


Shadows of the Past

by Snapes_Godess



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Complete, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 04:27:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 92,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20058001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snapes_Godess/pseuds/Snapes_Godess
Summary: PREVIOUSLY POSTED ON AFF:   From the shadows of an unsavory past comes redemption for a man who never believed that a second chance was possible. A story of friendship, forgiveness and the redeeming power of love





	1. Preface: Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> ***This story was previously posted on AFF and GrangerEnchanted, this has not been edited and is part of the mass moving of my 70 story catalog to this site. Please bear with me, I apologize for typos and errors!

AN: _Hi everyone! Welcome to another of my twisted tales. =) After I finished with His Saving Grace (DM/HG) a friend asked me ‘**How do you think it would be different if it had been Lucius?’** It took me awhile before the story began to unfold and this is it._

_ The beginning of this tale may trouble some of you…hell it troubles me, but it is just how the story played out in this over crowded head of mine…so if you can look beyond the beginning and read the rest I hope you will find a sweet tale of redemption that warms your heart =) It jumps off quickly, but I think you will understand why as you get deeper into it. So, here we go… _

WARNING: This, as always is AU/AR (obviously) so if it bothers you…don’t read it =) I don’t use Beta’s, I have control issues and don’t like putting my work into the hands of others….plus a few bad experiences have left me jaded. So expect some errors, I apologize in advance and will tell you right off that I worry more about telling the story than grammar and punctuation. So…with that said….I hope you like it =)

****

** Preface: Aftermath**

_In which we learn how it all began._

Hogwarts Castle stood quiet, silhouetted against a clear, moonlit sky. The sounds of battle had given way to silence and a section of the castle lay in ruins. All over the wizarding world people celebrated their victory and mourned their losses. Voldemort was dead and when the sun rose a new world would wake with the dawn. Hermione Granger made her way through the silent castle, checking up on the refugees seeking solace within the school’s walls. She was weary, exhaustion that went bone deep weighing her down. It had been a day of great joy and great sorrow, filled with satisfaction and disappointment alike.

Her mind was racing as she moved slowly through the halls, her steps hesitant and her body sore despite the long, hot bath she had indulged in when the chaos had finally died down. She had locked herself inside the prefect’s bathroom and cried until her body ached with it. She cried for the friends she would never see again, for the families that were broken and for her poor, broken heart. 

It seemed so foolish to be crying over Ron Weasley but she couldn’t help it. She had been in love with him for as long as she could remember and when they kissed she thought that it meant something to him, that he finally saw how she felt and returned her feelings. Then, when the adrenaline died down and people began picking up the pieces she saw him standing with his family huddled together in the corner. She had gone to him and tried to offer him comfort but he had shoved her away, told her to leave him alone, he had rejected her. And so she was alone.

A cold draft blew beneath the hem of her nightgown and she curled her toes inside the thick socks on her feet as she reached the top of the dungeon stairs. She didn’t think anyone would be down there, the dungeons and Slytherin dorm were in ruins but she checked anyway, needing something to take her mind off of things and prevent her from crying again. Suits of armor lay in dismantled heaps on the floor and the shredded tapestries blew in the cool breeze that penetrated the halls, no doubt from a damaged, outside wall. She stepped through the rubble, mindful of her stocking clad feet as she avoided jagged stone and broken glass. The portrait that once guarded the Slytherin common room lay charred on the floor, the frame shattered and the image burned away.

She stepped inside, surprised to see a lone flickering candle casting its light on the far side of the room. Very carefully she tiptoed her way across the room until she stood just behind a black leather sofa now sliced to ribbons and showing its foam innards. She stared at the sofa’s occupant with no small amount of confusion. Soft, grey cotton was stretched over his broad back, the muscles bunched beneath the fabric and his long blond hair hung in a damp curtain over his shoulders. He had obviously hit the showers…but why was he still there? Sitting alone in the Slytherin common room?

“Mr. Malfoy?” She said hesitantly. His shoulders tensed even more if that were possible but he didn’t lift his head, he continued to stare at the floor between his bare feet.

“You shouldn’t be down here, girl, there are still death eaters out there and this castle is unsecured in its current state.” He said, his voice thick and hoarse. She bit her lip as she tried to sort through her confusion. She wanted to leave, to walk away and leave him be but something in her told her to stay.

“You shouldn’t be down here either.” She said softly, her arms crossed over her chest as she hugged herself for warmth. It was so cold in the dungeons and he hadn’t bothered to light a fire in the grate. He laughed but the sound was without warmth, without mirth.

“They can do nothing more to break me.” He said softly. He was hurting, the shock and first waves of grief were hitting him. She felt sympathy for him and that surprised her. The man had been the poster child for evil for as long as she had known him. The name Lucius Malfoy brought forth images of hedonism, hatred, violence, bigotry, selfishness and stubborn pride, not a single _good_ trait. Yet she had looked out across the battlefield and watched as he dispatched death eater after death eater. In an instant his priorities had changed and his loyalties had shifted. It was no longer about him, about power and blood supremacy. It was about his family and saving them.

He had been desperate as he raced across the grounds and into the castle in search of his son. The look on his face when he saw Draco across the courtyard was etched in her mind. She had never seen a man look so relieved. But it had lasted only an instant as a stream of light raced across the courtyard and hit Draco in the shoulder. Narcissa Malfoy screamed and ran for her son, Lucius called her name, yelled at her to stop but it was too late, another blast shot through and hit her square in the chest. 

His transformation in that moment brought to mind the tales of Viking Berserkers, so lost in their rage that they could not be stopped. Hermione had watched from a balcony as he annihilated the death eaters responsible, taking them down without mercy, without guilt. Then he fell to his knees beside his wife and touched her cheek. He closed her eyes gently and crawled the short distance to his son. She wondered if she could bear to watch his pain as he rolled Draco onto his back and pulled him into his lap. She had turned to walk away when she heard his triumphant sobbing. When she looked back Draco was arching in pain, his hand clutching at his shoulder while his father sobbed with gratitude.

She had seen Draco earlier in the hospital wing sleeping soundly and had assumed Lucius would have gone home. Maybe the memories were too much for him there. Without really thinking about it she walked around the sofa and sat beside him. She saw a half empty bottle of bourbon sitting on a stack of text books he had piled in front of him and the empty glass clasped in his fingertips.

“I am sorry about your wife.” She said quietly. 

“So am I.” He answered. She shivered, her teeth chattering audibly and he turned his head to look at her. “You are freezing.”

“It’s cold down here.” She said, giving him a sad smile.

“Go back upstairs, go to bed and sleep.” He said.

“Come with me…I don’t want to walk alone…there are death eaters about and the castle is un-secure.” She said, trying to lure him out of the ruins by turning his words back on him. “Come, if you don’t want to go home I will find a bed for you.”

“You will be safe enough. Do not worry about me, I shall not be sleeping.” He said wearily. 

“I don’t think I can sleep either.” She said on a sigh. “Do you want to talk?” Lucius smirked and chuckled mirthlessly before refilling his empty glass. He held the glass out to her and shook it gently when she didn’t take it right away. She sniffed it then figuring what the hell she closed her eyes and tossed it back quickly. She shoved the glass back at him as she sputtered and coughed as the fiery drink burned its way down her throat and warmed her belly.

“First time?” He asked, refilling the glass again for himself.

“Yes….probably the last too.” She said between coughs. “Are you drunk?”

“Yes.” He answered simply, taking another drink. “What is it you want to talk about?” He asked. 

“I don’t know…I thought maybe it would help.” She said, staring at the flame dancing atop the candle.

“I guess I figured you would be off celebrating with Potter and Weasley, not roaming around the dungeons.” He said, swirling the amber liquid in his glass.

“No…Harry is off with Ginny, and Ron…well, he told me to leave him alone.” She said sadly.

“I am certain he didn’t mean it.” Lucius said quietly. “We say things we don’t really mean when we are distraught.” 

“What are you going to do?” She asked softly. He exhaled slowly and ran his fingers through his damp hair. 

“I don’t know. Draco is going to be fine in a few days…I suppose I need to start thinking about funeral arrangements for Cissy.” His voice hitched a little on her name and Hermione’s heart ached for him. “I can’t believe she’s dead. It’s my fault. If I had never gotten myself involved with the Dark Lord…if I hadn’t allowed myself to be poisoned by my father’s beliefs…if I hadn’t been a selfish prick she wouldn’t be lying in that room right now with the other casualties.” He took another long swallow of bourbon and hissed slightly at the burn. “Tell me why everything good in my life I destroy? In business every thing I touch turns to gold…but as a father I am a failure, as a husband I was worse. Because of me my wife is dead and my son nearly so, it should be me…not her. She didn’t deserve to die for this war.” He lowered his head, his voice breaking slightly. 

He was drunk, there was no way he would be sitting in the dark with a young woman spilling his guts if he weren’t. But then again, who did he have? He didn’t have any family aside from Draco and it was quite possible that when his son woke and realized that his mother was dead he would hate him. He had no real friends, no one to confide in, no one to care how he got through the loss of his family and the destruction of everything he once stood for. He had no one except for the girl sitting next to him offering him the shaky hand of truce. He felt her touch on his shoulder and turned his head to stare at the small, fragile hand resting against gray cotton. He set his glass on the floor and laid his hand on top of hers, squeezing those small fingers gently.

“Draco was right, you really are a genuinely _good_ person.” He said with wonder. “I don’t deserve your kindness.”

“You lost your wife and almost lost your son…you need kindness.” She said, smiling softly. She was nervous about being so close to him, nervous about offering him her trust, her comfort, but at least he accepted it. 

“You have every reason to want me dead…you would have been justified in cursing me the moment you walked in.” He said, his words slurring just a little.

“I think that what you’ve been through tonight is punishment enough.” She reached out and pushed back a lock of hair that fell into his eyes. Her heart was aching for him, she couldn’t imagine how it must feel, the guilt that no doubt felt like a knife in the gut.

“Then why don’t I feel anything? Why am I numb?” He asked, staring at her as though she had the answers at the tender age of eighteen. 

“Shock and alcohol.” She jolted when he reached out and laid his hands on her cheek, his fingertips lightly stroking the softness of her skin. Instinct told her to run away, he was dangerous but something deep inside her, that vulnerable part of her personality that wanted someone to need her made her stay just as she was.

“So much goodness…such innocence…” His eyes were glassy and vacant. “So many wonderful things await you…a life…a good life…why can’t I just be _good_?” It was like a dream, one of those dreams where it felt like you couldn’t move, that everything was happening to you and you just couldn’t stop it. One moment they were talking and the next moment she was reclining back against the arm of the worn sofa and Lucius Malfoy was drunkenly stroking her face, tears glistening in his obscenely long lashes though never sliding down his cheeks.

Suddenly she felt a strong arm go around her and his face was pressed into her shoulder while his other hand pushed her nightshirt up her thighs. She could barely breathe and her entire body felt frozen. Rough hands removed her underwear and shoved the front of his cotton sleep pants down and still she didn’t move, didn’t resist. She was too confused by what was happening. He pushed her legs apart and settled between them, jerking her none to gently beneath him and pushing into her without preliminaries. He didn’t seem to notice her ragged cry of pain as he tore through her hymen and penetrated her virgin body. It hurt, she felt invaded, raw and so damned confused yet she didn’t try to stop him. While she felt no pleasure at all in what he was doing to her, his arms around her felt incredible, she felt needed as he thrust into her again and again as he sobbed brokenly against her shoulder. 

He stiffened and groaned, his body trembling against her as he spilled inside the tight heat of her young body. Tears poured from him then, rolling down his cheeks and soaking the curls of the woman beneath him. She felt so soft and so very warm yet lust was not what drove him. He didn’t _want_ her, he didn’t even want sex, he just wanted…something…release, to feel, to be held…to forget. She whimpered beneath his weight and he lifted up off of her, looking down at her. It registered then what he had done and with whom. 

“Oh gods…” He groaned, paling as he pulled out of her and scrambled to the opposite end of the sofa. “What have I done?” He whispered, horrified as he stared at her, sprawled on the sofa in confusion, blood smearing her thighs and his seed pooling on the sofa beneath her. “You were a virgin and I…” he looked down to see her blood streaking the length of his flaccid penis. “What sort of monster am I?” He sobbed, burying his face in his hands. 

Hermione winced as she sat up and pulled her nightgown down to cover her. She was sore, the focus of her pain centered between her thighs. She had just lost her virginity to Lucius Malfoy in a moment of…what? What had just happened? It wasn’t lust, wasn’t desire and it certainly wasn’t love. What was it?

“Mr. Malfoy…” She whispered, thinking to ask him what they had just done but he flinched and turned his back to her.

“Go…just go quickly before I do something else to hurt you. Everything good that I touch is ruined…” A tortured sound escaped him and Hermione reached out once more to touch him. “I said go!” He shouted, startling her enough that she didn’t think twice, she fled, running as fast as she could through the rubble and back up the stairs and into the prefect’s bathroom. She dampened a wash cloth and cleaned away the blood and semen on and between her thighs before making a pallet out of towels and curling up into a ball to cry herself to sleep.

When morning came she scrounged up some clean clothing and joined the others in the great hall. The noise was deafening as she entered, moving slowly in deference to the throbbing ache between her legs. As she moved through the crowd she saw what had them all riled up. Aurors were leading Lucius, his head bowed and his hands shackled, through the hall. As they passed her he looked up at her and she gasped at the sorrow, the pain and the guilt that she saw in his eyes. His lips moved and tears filled her eyes as she read his lips.

“Forgive me.”


	2. Searching

****

**Chapter 2: Searching**

_Where Lucius Malfoy finds answers he wasn’t expecting._

Lucius Malfoy had spent a little over four years inside Azkaban prison for his crimes against Muggles and Muggleborn witches and wizards during the war. He had been given a brief furlough to bury his wife and set his house to rights before his trial began. He was tried for murder, conspiracy, assault and treason, all charges were completely justified and he didn’t argue against them. He was lucky he wasn’t given the kiss but Harry Potter had testified on his behalf, confirming that he had changed sides and was helping in the end. It was the only reason he had gotten off with such a light sentence. What had bothered him for the duration of his sentence was that there had never been a rape charge filed against him. When they read his charges in the courtroom he had closed his eyes and steeled himself for the sexual assault charges to be read…but they never came. 

He remembered vividly looking over at the stands and seeing her sitting there, staring at him but rather than accusation and hatred he saw only compassion. For four long years it had troubled him. Every day he wondered why…why hadn’t she filed charges against him? The guilt ate at him for what he had done. She was a virgin, an innocent and he had violated her. She had offered him comfort when no one else cared if he lived or died and he hurt her, stole her innocence from her. For him, what he had done to her was worse than any of the other crimes he was convicted of. He had never participated in the raping of the captives, he had never been able to bring himself to hurt a woman that way. Yet five minutes alone with a compassionate young witch and he was tearing into her body, rutting like a pig with no care for her at all. He was a monster. 

He poked his head out of his disillusioned carriage and stared at the English countryside. He found himself on a poorly paved road in the middle of farm country, seriously questioning whether he was in the right place. He had been out barely a month and immediately he had set out to locate her. He needed to talk to her, needed to apologize and find out why. Why had she not turned him in? He settled back into his house with Draco and began easing back into a normal life. Even after a month he still felt as though the stench of prison clung to his body and would never be washed away. During that time he learned that she had ducked out of public life almost immediately and no one knew much about her or her life. She was rarely seen and never gave interviews. It took some time but soon his investigator had an address, a little house in the country, un-plotted and hidden in a wooded area between farms.

As the carriage rolled along, disillusioned from muggle eyes, Lucius wondered if it was because of him. Had he hurt her to the point that she couldn’t stand to be around people? He had read once that victims of rape could become completely antisocial, that they developed a fear of going out lest they be victimized again. He hoped that wasn’t the case. His carriage rocked to a halt in front of a narrow lane that lead into the woods and with a whispered command the horses turned and followed it into the shadows. The narrow, thickly grown lane opened up and a small, ramshackle house sat in a clearing. Lucius stepped out of the carriage and stared at the run down little house curiously. The worn, wood siding was faded and the white paint was peeling away. The roof was missing a few shingles and the chimney was a bit crooked but he could see that brightly colored flowers lined the footpath and spilled from the window boxes, an indication that the house was well loved. 

He followed the footpath with trepidation, unsure if he had the right house and somewhat afraid that he did. He climbed the three steps that led up to the sprawling front porch but stopped when he struck a very powerful ward that prevented him from stepping onto the porch.

“You can’t come up here.” A small voice said. Lucius looked around for the owner of the voice and his eyes landed on a small child crawling from beneath a bench on the front porch. A little boy with thick sandy curls stood clutching a wooden train in his hand staring at Lucius curiously. 

“I am trying to find Hermione Granger. Does she live here?” Lucius asked the child. 

“Who are you?” The little one asked, his head tilted to the side. 

“My name is Lucius Malfoy. Does Ms. Granger live here?” Lucius asked again. The little boy slid to the ground and sat cross-legged, his train sitting in his lap.

“My mummy put the wards up to keep me on the porch so I don’t go to the woods.” He said, glancing over to the thick copse of trees at the side of the house. “And so the dead deers don’t take me.” He whispered. 

Lucius frowned and stared at the child. He was an odd little boy, what was he talking about? Dead deers?

“Dead deers?” A light suddenly went off in Lucius’s head. “Do you mean death eaters?”

“That’s what I said.” The little one said grinning. “I’m going to be five, Lewis. How many are you?”

“It’s Lucius and I am very old…is your mother or father home?” He asked, trying to get the child to focus.

“Luzis?” The little one queried.

“Lucius…Loo…see…us.” He enunciated. “Your parents…are they home?” 

“Your name is funny.” The little boy said. “I like your snake stick, can I play with it?” He asked, eyeing the silver snake head on Lucius’s beloved cane.

“No, you may not…your parents?” Lucius was growing frustrated quickly. He simply wanted to know if he had the right house.

“I’m a wizard…see.” He placed the train on the wood planks in front of him and using his finger he called up his “baby magic” to make the train move across the porch.

“That’s very nice…could you look at me please.” Had Draco ever been so unfocused and random as a child? If he had been Lucius certainly didn’t remember. When the little boy looked up, his blue eyes twinkling, Lucius tried again. “Now…where are your parents?”

“Mummy is making dinner. I’m Elias.” He said suddenly. Lucius took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, rolling his head on his shoulders.

“Nice to meet you, Elias. Could you perhaps go get your mother?” He asked.

“She works at the bookstore during the day and Nanna Molly comes to stay with me.” Elias said. “Are you a wizard or a muddle?” 

Lucius’s lips actually quirked slightly with a suppressed grin. A Muddle? Interesting turn of phrase, more polite than mudblood at any rate. 

“I am a wizard, young man. Your mother?” 

“Are you a poor blood? I heard Uncle George say I was a half-blood and my dad was a poor blood brick. But I don’t know my dad.” Elias frowned as though deep in thought. Lucius assumed that he meant pure-blood prick but he refrained from correcting the lad on that little slip.

“I am a _pure-blood_, Elias. Now please, would you fetch your mother for me?” Lucius was ready to bribe the child if necessary. To his relief the little one scrambled to his feet and darted through a screen door, letting it slam behind him. Lucius could hear the child calling for his mother inside. It took a few moments but Elias returned, dragging his bemused mother behind him. 

“See, Mum, I told you, Lewis Malloy is here to see you.” Elias said, pointing at Lucius. Hermione stood frozen to the spot, her eyes as wide as saucers as she stared at him. She looked tired, her hair in a messy bun and her body dressed in a simple white tee and loose fitting denims over bare feet. She had a bright red dishtowel tossed over her shoulder and a flush to her cheeks.

“Elias, baby, please go inside and get washed up for dinner.” She said when her brain began to function once more.

“Yes, Mummy. Goodbye, Lewis.” Elias said, smiling and waving animatedly. Lucius stared at him standing beside Hermione. Mummy? Elias said he was going to be five soon. As he turned and ran into the house Lucius noted the sandy blonde curls. He looked at Hermione, saw the fear in her eyes as she stared at him.

“That child is…”

“Mine!” Hermione said tersely. Lucius knew that look, the look of a mother who would do anything to protect her child, he had seen that look in Narcissa’s eyes more than once where Draco was concerned.

“I…didn’t know….why didn’t you tell me?” He asked, trying to process the truth that had just slapped him in the face. 

“That should be obvious.” She stated, crossing her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you…I didn’t…I wasn’t expecting to…could I have a drink of water, please?” He asked, his pulse suddenly racing and his mouth going dry. Hermione eyed him warily for several seconds before she cursed beneath her breath and lifted the wards on the porch until he crossed over and then reset them. He arched a brow in her direction, wondering at her paranoia.

“Elias has a tendency to wander off, this ensures that he can play outside without leaving the safety of the porch.” She explained.

“I see…Draco used to do the same when he was small. We finally resorted to a charmed ID bracelet that would set off alarms in the house when he went too far.” Lucius saw her start to smile then quickly suppress it and frown in his direction.

“Elias doesn’t know anything, he is just a baby…”

“He certainly doesn’t talk like a baby. He is quite chatty though he does have a tendency to confuse things. Like the dead deers that are going to take him away if he leaves the porch.” Hermione had the grace to blush at her choice of bogey man used to make Elias behave. 

“He is an incredibly bright child.” She muttered. “Come inside.” She opened the door and led him into her home. Lucius noted that the house was small, her furniture rather worn, obviously secondhand, but it was clean. “I was just finishing up dinner. Come into the kitchen and we can talk.” 

.  
As he followed her through the small house to the kitchen he walked slowly, staring at the photographs on the walls and littering the tables and bookshelves. Photographs of a little blond baby in a satin lined basket sleeping peacefully, a curly haired tot grinning and clapping his hands in delight, slobbering all over a snitch while sitting on Harry Potter’s lap, and a recent photo of Elias astride a small beginners broom hovering just above the ground. He stepped into the kitchen, his thoughts jumbled as he watched her clear a laundry basket and several stacks of folded laundry off of the table.

“Sorry about the mess, there isn’t a lot of time for housework when you are a single, working mother.” She said, smiling tightly as she gestured for him to sit. “Why did you come here?”

“I came to ask you why.” He said quietly as she went back to the stove and stirred a pot, the air rich with the scent of garlic and Italian spices.

“Why what?” She was trying very hard to calm her nerves. She knew that one day she would probably have to confront him about Elias, but she had always thought it would be on her terms, not all of a sudden. 

“When they sent me to Azkaban…why didn’t you press charges? Why didn’t you tell them that I raped you?” He asked, his voice hoarse. She turned off the stove and turned around slowly, her face softer with a stunned expression.

“Because you didn’t.” She said, her eyes narrowing. “Did you believe that you raped me all this time?”

“Yes…I did, I forced you, I stole your innocence and now…now I can see that the damage went far deeper than I ever dreamed.” He said, looking over at yet another photo of Elias stuck to the front of her icebox. “I came to find out why and ask you to forgive me…but now I don’t know how you ever could.”

Hermione tossed her dishtowel onto the counter and walked over to the table, pulling out a chair across from him and sitting down. She took a moment to look at him, making him a bit nervous under her scrutiny. Prison had changed him, his face sported a few more lines and his hair bore faint traces of silver at his temples but there was something different about him, he was softer to a degree though he still held himself with a certain amount of arrogance that made her smile. 

“You didn’t rape me, Mr. Malfoy, if you had I wouldn’t have hesitated to turn you in.” She said, stopping him before he could argue. “I could have stopped you. I could have pushed you away. I could have said no…but I didn’t, not a single time. I can’t tell you that I wanted what happened, I can’t tell you that it was a great experience for me but I _can_ tell you that it wasn’t rape.” 

“But…”

“It wasn’t rape. I don’t know what it was, I still to this day don’t really know how we ended up…doing that.” She said, shaking her head. “It wasn’t about love, lust or even _like_, I think over the years I have figured out that it was most likely about need. I needed to be needed and you needed to forget. It was just something that happened, but it was NOT rape.”

She saw his entire body relax, his eyes closing as he exhaled sharply in relief. She had no idea that was how he felt. That he had spent his sentence carrying the burden of guilt for a crime he had not committed.

“Elias?” He queried.

“Elias was a surprise, I certainly was not expecting you to have…well, I was more than a little shocked to discover I was pregnant.” She said, her face flaming. “I found out right after they sentenced you. I didn’t know what to do, I was in denial for a time and focused on searching for my parents, not sure what I was going to do about the baby. Then I found out that they had passed in an automobile accident before I could find them. Suddenly I was all alone in the world with no family…except for the baby. So, I decided to keep it. I received an inheritance from my parent’s estate and some money from the Ministry of Magic…not a lot, but it let me buy this little house and take some time to settle into motherhood. When Elias was one I had to go to work…I work in a bookshop in Leeds.”

“You could have written to me…or asked to see me, I would have authorized your visit.” He was vacillating between anger and guilt. 

“And what was I to say? You had enough on your shoulders and didn’t need me showing up with an unplanned child to add to your misery. I am somewhat surprised you are reacting so calmly now.” She said, eying him warily.

“I am in shock. I came to seek your forgiveness and discovered I have another child…I am unable to think clearly at the moment I’m afraid.” He answered truthfully. “I don’t know what to say or what to do.”

“Five years ago you would have hexed me, threatened me or tried to buy my silence.” She watched his reactions carefully, searching for a clue, for some sign of the man he was.

“Five years ago my whole life changed.” He said softly. “More than I knew. I am torn between anger and guilt. I am angry that I have a child I knew nothing about until five minutes ago, angry that I don’t even know his full name or his birth date and that I was denied the opportunity to be a part of his life. Yet…I feel guilty that I forced myself on a young girl, got her with child and ruined her life.”

“You didn’t force me and you didn’t ruin my life.” She said softly. “Yes…my life was complicated by a child, but not ruined, I could never look at Elias and think of my life as ruined.” She smiled at the mention of her son…their son. For the love of Merlin he had another son! “Mr. Malfoy…I am sorry that I didn’t tell you but you couldn’t have been a part of his life anyhow, you were in prison.”

“I could have written to him, I could have made arrangements for his care…and yours.” He said, his heart beginning to pound in his chest as it began to really sink in what had happened. He had fathered a child on Magical England’s golden girl…a half-blood child and his wife hadn’t even been in the ground. “Ms. Granger…could I get that glass of water?” 

Hermione saw the way his face paled and she rushed to the sink and got him a glass of water. He downed it quickly, his Adams apple bobbing with every swallow before he set it on the table and took several long, deep breaths.

“Are you alright?” She asked. He unfastened his cloak and shrugged out of it, then loosened the top button on his shirt. It was a shocking gesture from the man who was always so fastidiously dressed. “Mr. Malfoy?” She queried worriedly.

“Lucius, I think it would be fine for you to call me Lucius all things considered.” He said, closing his eyes for a moment as he struggled to reign himself in.

“It’s a lot to take in.” She said, unable to be angry with him. Oh, she had tried over the years to be angry, to hate him, to want him dead. To blame him. But it never lasted because she knew the truth, he hadn’t set out to hurt her or to get her pregnant. She couldn’t even be angry with him for being careless because she never imagined they would be having sex and she knew that he didn’t either. Contraception never crossed their minds. She had never felt guilty for not telling Lucius about Elias, not until then. “I guess I am shocked to find your anger stemming from not being told…I would have thought you would be angry that he was a half-blood and that I was his mother. I never imagined that you might have an interest in him.”

Lucius stared at the young woman across from him. She would be close to Draco in age, twenty-three maybe twenty-four yet she carried the wisdom of a woman a century older. She still had the fresh, dewy look of youth but her eyes…her eyes were aged and jaded. He was partly to blame for that. 

“Five years ago you would have been correct. I probably would have tried to buy your silence or, gods forgive me, worse. I was not a good man. I am not a good man now, but I am a repentant one. I would have done right by you and your…_our_…son.” He said. Hermione pursed her lips and drummed her fingers on the tabletop between them while she pondered his words. 

“His name is Elias William Granger and he was born on February twenty second. He was a rather large baby, over 9 pounds. He smiled early, crawled early, walked early…” She grinned slightly, “he talked early and hasn’t stopped since his first word which was ‘snitch’. His magic manifested at the age of one so I have been teaching him to control and use it for a long time now. He is a brilliant child and I am not just saying that because I am his mother, he is intelligent, funny, and talented but he is prone to mischief.”

She didn’t get to say more before Elias skidded into the kitchen waving his wet hands in the air. 

“All clean!” He said, smiling broadly as he showed his mother his hands. “Lewis!”

“Elias, your shirt is soaked!” Hermione exclaimed as she looked over her son. “No doubt my bathroom is a mess.” She muttered, snatching a clean shirt off of the top of the laundry basket she had set aside.

“Mum, Lewis is still here!” Elias said excitedly as he raised his hands in the air so his mother could tug his wet shirt off and replace it with a clean, dry one. 

“His name is Lucius but you will call him Mr. Malfoy.” Hermione said looking at Lucius apologetically. Her breath caught when she saw him reach out for Elias and pull the boy towards him, turning in his chair until Elias stood between his knees.

“I like Lewis.” Elias said, not at all concerned that a stranger was tugging him from his mother. 

“It’s Lucius, Elias. Say it.” Lucius demanded as he took in every detail of the small child in front of him. His hair was a sandy golden color somewhere between his mother’s sable locks and his own platinum hair. It was a bit on the long side and curled into soft, bouncy ringlets that danced about with the child’s incessant movement. His eyes were bright blue, like Lucius’s and Draco’s, only they still held the spark of hope that the older Malfoys had lost during the war. 

“Loo-she-us.” Elias said slowly, his head tilting to the side as he stared at the older man. Hermione nearly sobbed when she saw the identical way that they held their heads cocked to the side. 

“Close enough.” Lucius said softly, his heart aching as he stared into his child’s eyes. A child who had no idea he was face to face with the man who helped create him. 

“Are you staying for dinner?” Elias reached out and ran his fingers over a lock of smooth, silky blond hair. “Your hair is slickery, not like mine and mummy’s.”

“You mean _slippery_, child. You and your mother have naturally curly hair while mine is naturally straight.” Lucius explained.

“I think I want my hair to be slickery…slippery…like yours. It hurts my head when mummy brushes mine cause it tingles.” Elias said, still rubbing the lock of hair between his fingers.

“Tangles.” Lucius said. 

“That’s what I said.” Elias grinned and then turned, climbing up into a chair and folding his hands on the table in front of him. “Loo-she-us is staying for dinner, Mum.” 

Hermione shook her head and fought a teary smile as she watched Elias interact with his father, something she never thought to witness. She especially didn’t expect to see Lucius handling it so well. She met Lucius’s gaze and arched her brow inquiringly.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” She asked.

“Your husband wouldn’t mind?” He asked, looking around the house, suddenly realizing that he didn’t know if his son had a stepfather who would object to his presence.

“I’m not married.” Hermione said softly. “I mentioned that I was a single mother earlier.” She said, getting up from the table and pointing her wand at the dish cupboard. Plates, cups and flatware sailed through the air, setting the table casually. Lucius looked over to Elias who was drinking his milk noisily, his eyes darting around the room above the rim of his cup. It was a new experience for Lucius, Draco had taken his meals in the nursery with his nanny until he was ten and by then he had the proper table manners needed to grace the adult table. His lips twitched a little when the child set his cup back down and smiled at him wearing a white milk mustache.

“Do you have a husband?” Elias asked. Lucius smirked when Hermione choked and sputtered behind them.

“Women have husbands, Elias, men have wives and the answer is no, I do not have a wife.” Lucius explained as Hermione came back to the table and sat a large bowl of spaghetti with meat sauce on the table along with a basket of garlic bread. She immediately walked around and began filling Elias’s plate, kissing his soft cheek when she was finished. She saw Lucius staring at the dishes and figured that he wasn’t used to serving himself so she filled his plate as well. She started to walk away and Elias spoke, his mouth full of food.

“Kiss!” He said. Hermione blushed and Lucius stiffened.

“Lucius isn’t a little boy, so he doesn’t get kisses. And don’t speak with food in your mouth, Elias. It’s rude.” She said, sliding into her chair and seeing to her own food.

“Is this the first course?” Lucius asked, pushing the pasta around on his plate with his fork. It certainly looked edible, much more so than anything he received in Azkaban.

“We don’t have multi course meals here, Lucius.” Hermione chuckled. “What I put on the table is what you get, aside from dessert.” 

Lucius nodded in understanding and loaded his fork. He chewed slowly, pleased to discover that it was in deed palatable and not spoiled or flavorless. Hermione was rather stunned to see Elias, who normally slurped his spaghetti noisily, sitting upright at the table and trying desperately to mimic Lucius’s proper table manners, twirling his fork unsuccessfully in his spaghetti.

“You made this?” Lucius asked after several bites.

“Well, I opened the box of pasta and the jar of sauce and cooked them.” Hermione chuckled. “On days I work we have the simplest meals possible.” 

“Do you work a lot?” He asked between bites.

“Four days a week from 8 to five.” She said. “Molly Weasley comes to sit with Elias and on occasion Harry.”

“That’s a lot of hours.” Lucius said, not understanding why it bothered him so.

“Someone has to pay the bills and put food on the table.” She said softly. She wasn’t trying to make him feel badly. After all, he hadn’t known about Elias so there was nothing he could have done, but it had that affect. He felt terrible that the sole financial responsibility for their child had fallen on her shoulders. In his head he continually thought in terms of _our_ and _their_ when he referenced Elias, already he was subconsciously laying claim to the child.

“Done!” Elias suddenly shouted, pushing his plate to the center of the table. Hermione and Lucius both looked up at the smiling face covered in red sauce and smiled themselves.

“Did you get any _in_ you?” Hermione asked as she got up and went to the sink for a wet washcloth and cleaned Elias’s face.

“I did, it was good, Mum.” He said, wriggling in his seat while Hermione cleaned his hands. “Ice cream, please!” She sighed and went back to the counter, stopping at the icebox to withdraw a carton of ice cream from the freezer. She put a scoop of chocolate ice cream into a bowl and placed it in front of Elias, then sat back down to her dinner. Lucius watched it all transpire with curiosity.

“Your dinner is now cold.” He observed.

“Parental hazard, I haven’t enjoyed a hot meal since he was born.” Hermione laughed. He noticed that she didn’t look resentful when she said it, just resigned. Lucius looked over at Elias who was busy shoveling his ice cream into his mouth, oblivious of the adult conversation.

“Elias, it is only polite to wait until everyone at the table is finished eating before demanding your dessert. Perhaps, at future meals, you might sit quietly when you are finished and allow your mother to finish her meal first.” Lucius said it casually as he ate his dinner. Hermione’s eyes narrowed a bit, wondering why he thought it alright to come into her house and correct her son’s behavior. Elias looked over at his mother and at her half eaten dinner and then back to Lucius. 

“Ok.” He said sullenly.

“Yes, sir would be a proper response.” Lucius said.

“Yes, sir. Sorry, Mummy.” He said, before taking his last bite and sliding from his chair. Lucius stopped him however, putting a hand in front of him.

“Sit back down, Elias, you were not excused.” He said. Elias slipped back into his chair obediently, staring at Lucius in awe.

“Can I get down now?” He asked.

“_May_ I get down now, and yes, you may.” Elias darted from the kitchen and soon the sounds of toy trains filled the air. Lucius wiped his mouth and laid his napkin on the table beside his plate. “You are angry with me.”

“You have no right to correct my son.” Hermione said. She knew Elias needed to learn proper manners, but he was _her_ son, it was her job to teach them, not his.

“He is my son as well, no matter that he isn’t aware of it yet. You and I need to have a very long conversation, Ms. Gran…Hermione. One outside of young Elias’s earshot.” He said. 

“I agree. Harry is sitting with Elias tomorrow, I could ask him to stay late and you and I could meet.” Hermione said, her stomach knotting painfully. Would he try to take her baby from her?

“Do your friends know who fathered Elias?” He asked.

“Yes. They all know and have kept my secret, though none of them understand just how it happened.” She answered.

“Very well, send me an owl tomorrow with your work address and I will meet you at the end of your shift and escort you to dinner. We can discuss Elias and my role in his life from here on out.” He pushed his chair back and got to his feet, righting his clothing and pulling his cloak back on. “Thank you for dinner.” He said softly, bowing slightly in her direction. 

“I will walk you out…the wards.” She muttered, leading him through the house.

“Are you leaving, Loo-she-us?” Elias asked from the floor. Lucius crouched down beside him and smiled.

“I am afraid I must, it is growing late and I have a long ride back to Wiltshire.” He said.

“Will you come visit soon? You can come by floo like everyone else does so you won’t have to leave early.” Elias said hopefully.

“I will most certainly come visit you again, Elias, you can count on it.” Lucius said, stroking the child’s curls briefly before he stood and walked to where Hermione waited at the door. They stepped out onto the porch and Hermione lifted the wards. He was halfway to his carriage when he heard her speak.

“I won’t let you take him from me and I won’t let you hurt him.” She said, her voice quavering. He turned and looked back at the woman trembling on the porch.

“Neither are my intention. I will see you tomorrow evening. Goodnight, Hermione.” He said before climbing into his carriage and riding off into the early evening light.


	3. Decisions

****

** Chapter 3: Decisions **

_Where Elias’s future is determined._

Hermione was in a pissy mood, Harry could see. She was agitated in a way he hadn’t seen her before as he stood in front of the fireplace and watched her march back down the hall towards her bedroom. She had barked a sharp hello when he first entered but other than that she hadn’t spoken a word. Even Elias seemed befuddled as he stood next to Harry with blueberry jam on his face and shirt. 

“Your mum seems unhappy this morning.” Harry said, ruffling the little boy’s curls affectionately.

“I think she’s on her parade.” Elias said frowning. Harry chuckled, he meant period.

“What do you know of _parades_?” Harry asked, looking down at the little boy he had come to love so very much.

“Uncle Ron said she gets itchy when she has her parade. She’s very itchy this morning.” Elias said as she stomped back out of her room wearing a different blouse. Harry smiled but made a mental note to talk to Ron about what he said in front of Elias. The boy repeated everything, usually he repeated it incorrectly, but he repeated it none the less.

“You shouldn’t talk about ladies parades, it isn’t polite and they tend to get upset about it.” Harry said.

“More itchy?” 

“Something like that.” Harry laughed. “Mione, what’s the fuss all about?” She stopped in front of the hall mirror and applied a light coat of mascara and some lipstick, meeting Harry’s gaze in the reflection.

“I need you to stay late, Harry. I have an important meeting tonight after work.” She said tightly.

“A D-A-T-E?” Harry asked, glancing sideways at Elias, unsure if it was inappropriate to talk about such things in front of the child.

“No!” She said quickly, shoving her things into her purse and taking a deep breath before she turned to face him. “Harry, Lucius Malfoy came by yesterday evening.” 

Harry’s face immediately colored and Hermione watched as his scar went dark. He was breathing heavily through his nose but trying to keep himself under control. If Elias hadn’t been present Hermione had no doubt that Harry would be ranting at the top of his voice already.

“What did he want?” Harry asked. Hermione glanced at her watch and then sat her purse aside.

“Elias, run along and get ready for the day. Wash your face and hands, brush your teeth and put on the clothes I laid on your bed.” She said, smiling when Elias skipped off down the hall. She sat down on the sofa and gestured for Harry to join her, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves. “He was just released about a month ago as you know. He sought me out to ask my forgiveness. It seems that he believed he had…that he had raped me that night after the battle.” 

“Did he?” 

“We have gone over this before, Harry, he didn’t rape me. I let him.” She watched the muscle twitch in his jaw and knew he wanted to kill Lucius. “It took him a minute or two to figure out who Elias was.”

“Did he freak out? Did he hurt you or threaten you in any way?” Harry demanded. He was an auror, though still low on the totem pole. He wouldn’t hesitate to send Lucius back to prison to protect Hermione and Elias.

“He was angry, confused and to my surprise he actually seemed hurt that I didn’t tell him.” She said. “He was very nice about it all, actually, very kind and very gentle with Elias. He wants to meet me after work so we can discuss the situation and what will happen in the future.”

“Do you think he wants to take Elias from you?” Harry asked.

“No, but I think he wants to be involved, I just don’t know how. Look, I will tell you all about it when I get home but I really need to get to work.” She said, looking at her watch again and then snatching up her purse. “Please do not give Elias soda, it makes him hyper and difficult to put to bed. Other than that, have fun today.” She kissed Harry’s forehead and stepped out the front door, apparating away to the alley behind the bookshop where she worked. It was going to be a very long day.

****

**~@~**

Lucius stood in the middle of his weight room, a pair of loose fitting track pants riding low on his hips as he moved easily on the balls of his feet. He moved fluidly around a heavy bag suspended in mid-air, his fists connecting solidly with each punch he threw. In prison he had found that physical exercise helped him to burn off his excess energy and work off his frustrations. While it was helping, it wasn’t alleviating his anger, not this time. He had another child, something he never thought to have, especially not a half-blood child.

While he understood her reasoning for keeping Elias a secret he couldn’t get beyond the fact that she had given birth to his child and not told him. The more he thought about it the more intense his workout became as he began using his knees and feet as well on the bag. He needed to work it off before he went to see her, before he began discussing their son. _Their_ son…HIS son…a child conceived out of grief on the worst night of his entire life.

Not that you could tell by looking at him. Elias was a beautiful child and he didn’t seem to have a melancholy bone in his body. Lucius had only spent a little bit of time with the boy but it was impossible to miss the pure joy that radiated from him. He was precocious, smart as hell despite his tendency to confuse words. He was obviously happy, despite not having a father. Potter appeared to have been filling that role over the years. That would have to change. No, to look at Elias one would never think he had been created out of such pain. At least Lucius could rest easy knowing the child hadn’t been conceived from rape, Hermione had laid his fears to rest. 

It had been difficult walking away from that rundown little house without some definitive answers but he knew it wasn’t appropriate conversation to have in front of a four year old. He had come home and immediately gone to his study where he pulled out old photo albums from Draco’s childhood. As soon as he looked at the photographs of Draco around the same age he wondered how he hadn’t recognized the boy instantly. Draco had been a slender child where Elias was round and rosy cheeked, Draco had been fair skinned where Elias was more golden and Draco’s hair had been thin, straight and snow white while Elias’s was thick, curly and more of a sandy color. Differences in coloring aside, their faces and their eyes were nearly identical. 

He had been a horrible father to Draco. He hadn’t been there for him as he should have been and he had been a piss poor role model for the boy. He wasn’t sure how he became the man he did but Lucius knew he couldn’t take any credit for the way Draco had turned out. He was a decent man with a good head for business and a sense of humor Lucius would never fully understand, but he was proud of him. He took a break, his hands steadying the bag as he took deep breaths and wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

He had a second chance to be a good father. An opportunity to do it right, the way he should have the first time. _IF_ the witch would allow it. He had seen the look on her face when he corrected Elias’s table manners. That possessive, protective look that said “How dare you?” She hadn’t liked him stepping into a parental role even for those few seconds. Would she allow him to do it on a regular, permanent basis? 

He glanced at the clock on the wall and began to unravel the tape from around his knuckles so he could stretch out and then have a nice long soak in his tub before picking her up for dinner. He would need the relaxation time. Not only did he have to go into a muggle city but he had to go into a muggle bookshop and then a muggle restaurant because she didn’t want to meet in a wizarding establishment. Oh yes, he would most certainly need to relax and ready himself for the night ahead.

****

**~@~**

Hermione shifted in her chair for what seemed like the millionth time as the last hour of her day slowly ticked by. She was nervous about meeting with Lucius, afraid that he was going to turn her carefully constructed life upside down. She had been trying to focus on her inventory manifests for over an hour but couldn’t get her mind off of her situation. She wasn’t ready to deal with the situation. She supposed she always knew that Lucius would find out eventually. Elias wasn’t exactly a secret though most people assumed that Ron or Harry was his father, no one was brave enough to come right out and ask her so she didn’t offer any information to correct their assumptions.

That may be about to change if Lucius had it in his head to assume his position as Elias’s father. How was she going to explain that to people? How was she going to explain that to Elias? She squeezed her eyes closed tightly for a moment and when she opened them they strayed to the photo of Elias on the corner of her desk. She would do what was right for him, whatever it meant. The question was what WAS the right thing to do? And how would she know?

“You have been holding out on me!” Hermione jumped and instinctively reached for her wand when she heard the door to her miniscule office open suddenly. She slowly slid her hand away from her back pocket, disguising the action by pretending to adjust her blouse as she stared at her visitor. Jessa Smith was a diva masquerading as a salesgirl. Hermione had known more than her fair share of over the top females back at school but nothing compared to Jessa. She was long and lean, teetering on platform heels that looked like lethal weapons. Her long auburn tresses were cut into a shaggy layered style that framed a face artistically accented by cosmetics. She was bold as brass, comfortable in her own skin and with her sexuality. She had also made it her life’s mission to get Hermione laid.

“How am I doing that, Jessa?” Hermione asked, closing the file folder on her desk. She hadn’t been able to concentrate anyhow. As far as her duties as Assistant Manager went, inventory was her least favorite.

“The most delicious hunk of a man just strolled through the front door and you can not begin to imagine my surprise…and disappointment…when he asked for you.” Jessa’s lips quirked as she crossed her arms and peered down at Hermione.

“He’s early.” Hermione said as she got to her feet and smoothed her clothing. “Do I look a fright?”

“No, you look fine. Who is the stud?” Jessa asked, curious about Hermione’s reaction. She had met Ronald and Harry but the man waiting outside was in another league…another universe in comparison to them. He was certainly not the norm for Hermione. 

“Lucius Malfoy.” Hermione said tightly as she checked her hair and makeup in a mirror she kept in her top drawer.

“When did you meet?” Jessa asked, propping her hip on the corner of the desk.

“About ten years ago or so.” Hermione applied a fresh coat of lip-gloss and dabbed a little perfume on her wrist. 

“Really? I mean it’s obvious he is older than you but you would have been a child.” Jessa said, her brow furrowed.

“I went to boarding school with his son. We just became reacquainted.” Hermione explained as she shoved her things into her bag and reached for her coat. 

“Interesting…you must have been well acquainted before…Elias has his eyes.” 

Hermione turned slowly to find Jessa still perched on the corner of the desk holding Elias’s photograph. Thank the gods it wasn’t a wizarding photo, just a simple still photo taken with a muggle camera.

“Jessa…”

“Are you going to deny it?” Jessa asked, setting the frame back on her desk. “You never talk about Elias’s father…at first I thought it was Harry but you would never sleep with him….”

“Elias doesn’t know and until yesterday neither did Lucius.” It made her nauseous to admit it publicly for the first time. Before that moment she hadn’t admitted it aloud to anyone outside of her _family_. Jessa whistled low and smirked. 

“The hidden facets of Hermione Granger.” She shook her head and stood. “Well, I am jealous as hell. Give me the keys, I’ll lock up.” She held out her hand and Hermione dropped the keys into them. “Go get you some girl.” Jessa winked and sauntered out the door. Unfortunately Lucius was standing right outside and obviously had heard her parting remark.

“Good evening.” Lucius said, an amusement clear on his face.

“Good evening.” She said, cheeks flushing.

“Are you ready to get you some…dinner?” He taunted. Hermione shook her head, laughter bubbling out unexpectedly. So…Lucius had a sense of humor. Who knew?

“Yes, do you know where we are going?” She asked, jolting a little when he took her jacket from her and helped her don it.

“While I would prefer to eat at the Dragon Inn, I respect your wishes to discuss this outside of our world. We shall be dining at the Boxwood Café in London.” He offered her his arm and she slid her hand into the crook of his elbow with wide eyes.

“That is…very nice.” She croaked, stunned that he would take her to such a nice, and well known restaurant.

“I am told it has a top notch menu and a casual atmosphere. I made reservations for a private table where we can talk.” He led her through the store, nodding politely towards Jessa as they passed, not noticing the suggestive looks she was giving Hermione.

“You can’t pay with Galleons.” He held the door open and she stepped out onto the pavement, shivering slightly as the fall breeze bit through her thin jacket. 

“I know that, Hermione. This isn’t my first time in muggle London. I have muggle credit, muggle money in a muggle bank. I even have muggle investments and own a penthouse in a muggle building.” Did she think he had never lived outside of the wizarding community? That he had never explored the world?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply…”

“That I am a bigot? Unable to adapt? Unable to move about in muggle society?” He offered. Her abashed expression made him realize that he was being a bit harsh with her. Perhaps his frustration over having his child kept from him wasn’t as subdued as he thought. “I apologize, that was uncalled for.” 

“You are angry with me, aren’t you?” She asked softly as he walked her to the corner and hailed a taxi. She tried not to look surprised that knew how to travel without magic.

“I am…frustrated.” He said tightly as he opened the door for her, sliding into the leather seat beside her and giving his directions to the driver. “While I understand what would make you hesitate to inform me, I _did_ miss out on knowing my son. It doesn’t exactly give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.” 

Hermione felt the sick twisting of guilt in her gut and she turned her face away. He was right of course, he had missed out on knowing Elias. But it wasn’t as if she had done it out of malice, she believed it was the right thing to do. He was a death eater! A convicted criminal! What kind of father could he have been in prison? How was she supposed to explain his past to Elias? She had done the right thing, she truly believed that.

“I didn’t do it to hurt you, Lucius. I did it to protect Elias.” She said finally when the silence became too much for her.

“Protect him from what? From me? I would never deliberately hurt my own child.” He sneered slightly, wondering if there would ever come a time in his life when people stopped expecting the worst from him. What did a man have to do to prove himself?

“That’s just it…it wouldn’t have been deliberate but he would have been hurt by the gossip, the scandal, by having a father he couldn’t see because he was in prison. Don’t you see that?” She turned towards him and flinched at the pain she could see in his eyes. 

“By the time he was old enough to understand any of it the scandal would have died down and people would have forgotten. But now, now it _is_ going to affect him because you were selfish and kept him hidden away.” He was trying to control his anger but the venom was there in his voice and it stung with every word.

“I am not selfish! I kept him, I could have refused to have him given who is father is but I didn’t, I carried him, gave birth to him and I changed my plans for my life dramatically in order to be his mother! Do you think I _like_ working in that crappy little book shop? Do you think I like having to hide who I am from my co-workers? I do it because I love that child more than anything else in this entire world and I will sacrifice anything I have to in order to make sure he is well and happy.” Her face was flushed with anger and her eyes were on fire. Lucius was a little shocked that her magic had not manifested around them she was so riled. 

“Do you not think that he needs a father?” Lucius asked.

“Not one who was in prison! You couldn’t have been a father to him, Lucius, why are you being so stubborn about this?” She rubbed the spot between her eyes in frustration.

“I managed with Draco. I wrote to him nearly every day and he was allowed to visit once a week. We managed to maintain a relationship.” He said.

“You think it would have been appropriate for me to bring a baby into Azkaban prison?” She asked incredulously. “You would have wanted me to expose our son to the filth and disease, not to mention the criminally insane inmates?”

“Alright, so maybe I wouldn’t have wanted you to bring him to visit, but I could have written to him, you could have come to visit and brought me photos of him, taken back pensives for him to see so that he would know me. My son doesn’t know me! To him I am just some random stranger who knocked on the door one day!” The cabby jumped when Lucius raised his voice. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down, rolling down the window so that the breeze could help cool his temper.

“We have arrived.” The cabby croaked, looking at Lucius through the rearview mirror. Lucius reached into his pocket and withdrew a money clip that he used for his muggle currency and peeled back several bills to pay for the ride and along with a very generous tip. The cabby went from petrified of Lucius to his willing slave at the sight of the extra money. He scrambled from the driver’s seat and jerked open the back door so that Lucius could slide out. Lucius offered his hand to Hermione politely and assisted her from the back of the taxi.

“I understand that this is a very fine establishment.” Lucius said, looking at tasteful and understated entrance.

“How do you know about muggle restaurants? Don’t get all defensive either, I know you would have preferred to have had dinner at your home or in a wizarding establishment.” She stood beside him on the pavement only she wasn’t looking at the building, she was looking at him. Elias had his ears. They were smaller of course but they had that same little wrinkle at the top that Lucius’s did. What else did the child share with his father that she never noticed?

“Draco has a love of muggle electronics and a talent for altering their operating properties to work in magical households, he was able to “look up” a list of decent restaurants. He suggested this one, he seems to think that the man who established this restaurant and I are kindred spirits of some sort.” Lucius frowned at that. “Not certain what that means as he didn’t explain further, but he dines in the muggle world far more than I so I trust him.”

Hermione laughed at the thought of Draco tinkering with electronics like Arthur Weasley. It was even funnier that he would tease his father. She didn’t know why, but it wasn’t something she imagined as common between them. She supposed that there was a lot more to Lucius than she knew. In truth she didn’t know much, he was wealthy, a pureblood, a death eater, widower, and he made beautiful babies.

“The man who established this place has become a muggle celebrity. He is one of the worlds best chefs with restaurants all over the world and hit television programs in the United States and Britain…he is also known for having a rather wicked temper.” Hermione chuckled.

“Little shit.” Lucius muttered beneath his breath. Hermione heard him however and laughed harder. “Pardon my language.” He said sheepishly, ashamed to have forgotten himself in the presence of a lady.

“It’s alright, Harry and the Weasley boys tend to have a very colorful vocabulary. Just watch it around Elias.” She said. “He repeats everything.”

“Not always accurately.” Lucius smirked softly as they spoke of their son. Hermione’s answering smile set him at ease somewhat and his anger began to recede. They would find common ground in their son though it would not be easy. “Let us go inside, we have much to discuss.” 

“Should we really be talking about this in public?” She asked as he led her inside. 

“I will cast a muffling spell around our table.” He said, taking her jacket and placing it atop his as he handed it to the coat check attendant.

“You can’t wield a wand in front of muggles! It’s illegal!” She said on an exaggerated whisper.

“Who said I needed a wand?” He asked, glancing at her over his shoulder as he walked to the maitre d’s stand and gave his name. Her expression was a mixture of shock and envy. Wandless magic was a coveted ability, one that many witched and wizards never mastered, some thought it was an inherited talent like being parselmouth or divination. Lucius didn’t really have an opinion one way or another but then again, he had been using wandless magic since his early twenties.

The maitre d led them to a table in the corner of the main dining room. As soon as the maitre d walked away Lucius whispered an incantation and a magic shimmered around them for a second, shielding their conversations from anyone who might listen as well as protecting the other visitors should their voices become raised. They were silent as they looked over the menu, then Lucius politely asked her what she would like to he could order for her. Hermione was touched by this little bit of chivalry. She didn’t go out on dates, she rarely went out to dinner, so she wasn’t certain how to react. 

After he relayed their order to the server and the sommelier had served their choice of wine he folded his hands on the table in front of him and met her gaze head on. She was so young and as he looked at her the guilt washed over him for what he had done. He had changed the course of a girl’s life, a girl young enough to be his daughter. Instead of going to university and enjoying her youth she was working and raising a child, alone. Somehow he would make it up to her, if she would let him.

“I want to be involved in Elias’s life.” He put it all on the table, deciding that a direct approach would be best with Hermione. She didn’t look at all surprised by his declaration which lead him to believe that she already knew.

“He doesn’t know you.” She said simply. “I know…that is not your fault, but he doesn’t know you, you are a stranger to him… a man who showed up one night and stayed for dinner.”

“Then I will get to know him.” Lucius didn’t intend to allow her to push him away. “My list of sins are a mile long, Hermione, I will not add child abandonment to it. I know what I was, I know what I did and I know how I failed. I wasn’t a good father to Draco, I loved him and I gave him everything he wanted but I did not _father_ him as I should have. I do not want to make that mistake again, I will not walk away.” 

She believed him. She wasn’t sure why she believed him but something in her told her that he meant every word. He wanted to know Elias, wanted to be his father and he wanted to do it right. But what did she tell her son? What did they tell…well, everyone?

“How am I supposed to explain this to Elias?” She rubbed her temple with one hand and reached for her glass of wine with the other, taking a rather generous drink hoping that the alcohol would calm her nerves. “Do you remember that man who came over for dinner? Well, that man is your daddy.” She shook her head slowly and Lucius was once more struck by her youth. She looked helpless and scared. “He won’t understand.”

“Then I will begin spending time with him. I could come over of an evening and visit for awhile, get to know him and let him get to know me and then, when the time is right we will sit him down and tell him who I am.” Lucius suggested.

“And how do we explain where you were? When he asks us about why you weren’t in his life and why you and I weren’t together when he was born…what do we say then?” She asked, tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes. He hoped like hell she didn’t cry, he couldn’t handle a woman’s tears, he never could.

“Those questions seem a little deep for a child his age.” 

“Elias isn’t a typical four-year old, Lucius. He is bright beyond belief and curious to a fault. His favorite past-time is _why_. He will ask, I promise you.” She laughed, dabbing at her eyes with her napkin. 

“Then we tell him that you and I were there for each other at a very sad and lonely time. That he was made out of generosity, the giving and receiving of comfort. We tell him that I had to go away, far away before you knew he existed and there was no way for you to get in touch with me. No further details need to be revealed for now, they don’t matter.” He said, watching her eyes soften and fill with tears once more. She was such an emotional creature and she seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve. But she was compassionate, it was what had begun the strange journey they found themselves on.

“I can’t let you play with his emotions, Lucius. He’s just a baby and his feelings are tender…if he grows attached to you and you leave him he will be devastated.” 

“I won’t leave him. That child is mine and I will do right by him, Hermione, always.” Lucius reached across the table and took her hand. He could feel the surprise in the way she jolted at his touch, could see it in the way her body stiffened and her lips parted on a sharp exhalation. Hell, he was shocked by his actions, not quite certain what compelled him to reach out to her that way. “I know this isn’t easy for you, it certainly isn’t easy for me. I want to know my son, Hermione, _our_ son. Please do not fight me on this.”

“If I refuse?” She wouldn’t, she didn’t intend to but she needed to know how serious he was and his answer to that question would tell her what she needed to know.

“If you refuse you leave me with no other choice. I will take you before the ministry and demand my rights to my son through legal channels.” He said softly, praying she wouldn’t put them all through such an ordeal.

“That won’t be necessary, I will not keep you from Elias but you must promise not to reveal your identity before we discuss it and both agree that the time is right.” Her heart was pounding, her life changing dramatically once more before she was ready. She hoped like hell she was making the right decision.

“I promise.” His smile made her stomach tighten and she laid her hand over it to still the churning.

“What are you going to tell Draco?” She asked, worried about how his other child would deal with the news.

“I’m not sure. It isn’t going to be an easy conversation to have, especially since his mother had been dead only a few hours when Elias was conceived. I don’t know if he will understand.” She had hit a sore spot, one Lucius had been worrying over since he walked out of her little house. How _was_ he going to make Draco understand? How was he going to tell his son that he had a little brother…a half-blood brother conceived on the night his mother died?

“Draco is an adult…I am sure he will understand though it may take him some time. Be prepared for his anger, he always was a bit hotheaded.” She gave his fingers a squeeze and released his hand, suddenly uncomfortable with the intimacy of holding his hand, no matter that it was platonic.

“Thank you, Hermione, for not keeping him from me.” Lucius said softly. She took a deep breath and met his gaze.

“Just don’t make me regret it.” She said, just as the server arrived with their meal.


	4. A Sin Revealed

****

**Chapter Four: A Sin Revealed**

_Where Draco learns of the past and Hermione reveals her decision._

Something was going on with his father, Draco was certain of it. He had been behaving strangely all evening, for a little over a week actually. He had tried to chalk it all up to his father adjusting to life outside of prison but that explanation didn’t sit well with him any longer. There was something more going on, he was going out every evening and staying gone for several hours. At first Draco had thought his father was visiting a mistress, getting a little action after so long without but he never came home with the look of a man who had just tumbled a beautiful woman. Sometimes he wore a strangely amused smile on his face and at others he looked tense and frustrated, but never did he have that freshly shagged look.

He was standing by the window of the salon, the sash opened slightly so that the cool evening air lifted his hair and the fresh scent of new autumn filled the room. He looked pensive, worried as he stared out into the night. Could he be depressed? Could prison have done more damage than Draco suspected?

“Father, are you alright?” Draco asked finally. The corner of Lucius’s mouth twitched and he shook his head.

“Not especially.” Lucius said quietly. He watched the ducks move about on the lake in the dim evening light and tried to organize his thoughts. He wasn’t finding much success. “Draco…have you ever done something for no good reason? Done something without realizing what you were doing until it was over and there was no going back?”

“What have you done?” Draco asked hoarsely, terrified that his father had done something to land him back in Azkaban. 

“Something terrible.” Lucius said quietly.

“When did it happen?”

“It happened five years ago.” Lucius ran his hand over his face and turned from the window to face Draco. It crossed his mind that confessing to his son was more difficult than facing the ministry courts. He crossed the room and sat down in his favorite leather chair, letting his head rest against the back as he watched his son through slitted eyes. He was afraid to look the young man in the eye as he told the story, afraid of what he would see.

“I don’t understand.” Draco was confused and more than a little worried about his father’s mental health. “What are you talking about?”

“As the battle neared its end your mother and I ran into the castle searching for you. We looked everywhere, filled with terror thinking you were dead. As we ran through a passageway we saw you across the courtyard and your mother screamed your name. There were death eaters everywhere and word had quickly spread that we had changed loyalties so it was no surprise when that hex hit you.” Lucius’s face twisted into a mask of pain as he recounted the memories of that night. Draco sat and listened in awe, having never heard his father speak of what happened. “When you went down your mother ran for you…I called for her to stop, tried to grab her but it was too late, she was crossing that courtyard and before I could stop them they hit her with the killing curse, square in the chest. She fell just a few feet from you. I went crazy; I believed that my entire family had just been wiped out before my eyes. I killed them all. Every last one of them, not a single one got away and then…then I went to your mother but it was too late, she was gone. I crawled to you and when I touched you I felt a pulse so I pulled you into my arms and when you started screaming in pain…well I have to admit I had never heard a more beautiful sound because it meant you were alive.” 

“Father, you don’t have to do this.” Draco said quietly as he watched his father’s eyes grow misty.

“No, I need to tell you this…I need to tell you everything and hope that you will understand, that you will forgive me.” 

“Forgive you? What is there to forgive?” Draco asked, his confusion growing.

“Just listen, Son, just listen and let me finish before I lose my nerve.” Lucius took a deep breath and continued with his tale. “I carried you to the hospital ward. You were checked out and I was so relieved to learn that it was simply a dislocated shoulder. When they told me you were going to be alright and were sleeping I went back and got your mother. I carried her to a makeshift morgue set up in a classroom. I hated carrying her like that, she was so heavy and limp, so cold. I couldn’t go home…I didn’t want to go back to this house after everything that had happened here, I knew I wouldn’t be able to live here, to stay here until everything had been gutted and replaced, until all the evil was gone. So I let myself into Severus’s quarters where I showered and found some clean clothes then I went to the Slytherin common room and I just sat there.” He stood and walked back to the window, he couldn’t look at Draco for the next half of his story. “I had swiped a bottle of Sev’s bourbon and was more than a little pissed when company arrived. Hermione Granger was patrolling the castle, checking up on the refugees and trying to combat her own demons I suspect. Much to my surprise she didn’t leave, she stayed and she comforted me, she talked to me. I am not quite sure of the details, but somehow…somehow I ended up taking her. I…I had intercourse with her.”

“You what!” He winced at Draco’s shocked exclamation.

“Let me finish!” Lucius shouted. “I don’t know how it happened, I didn’t _want_ her, I didn’t want sex…it had nothing to do with desire or pleasure…I didn’t even take any pleasure in it. It was about need…comfort…I needed comfort and she was there and for a moment I was able to forget. When I realized what had happened I was horrified, I sent her away immediately…I was convinced that I had raped her because there was no way that she was a willing partner. I kept waiting for her to press charges but she never did…I spent four years in that prison wondering why. When I was released I hired an investigator almost immediately to find her, I needed an answer…What I found…well…you have a brother, Draco. He’s four.”

The silence was deafening. Lucius swallowed hard and tried to make his body turn around but fear kept him staring out the window, waiting for Draco’s reaction.

“Did you rape her?” Draco asked tightly. He knew his father was capable, or had been, of terrible things, but he didn’t want to believe that rape was one of them.

“She said no, she said that she allowed it.” Lucius answered. He didn’t see Draco sigh in relief.

“So Granger’s child…he is yours.” Draco said in disbelief. “I always thought he was Potter’s.”

“His name is Elias, and he is your little brother.” Lucius finally turned from the window and stared at his oldest child. “He doesn’t know yet but I intend to be his father in every sense of the word which means that eventually his parentage will become public knowledge. It also means that he will know that you are his brother. I wanted to tell you now, before Hermione and I tell Elias the truth, to give you a chance to deal with your own feelings about the situation.”

“My feelings?” Draco looked up, anger and hurt shining in his eyes. “My _feelings_? My mother wasn’t even cold in the ground and you were off shagging Granger! My feelings? I can’t fucking believe you!”

Lucius expected his anger. Draco had idolized his mother and he knew his son would feel like he betrayed his mother. Hell, Lucius felt as though he had betrayed her. He knew that were he in Draco’s shoes he would be reacting the same way. 

“I understand that you are upset…”

“Do you? Do you _really_ understand how upset I am right now?” Draco asked, pushing himself off of the sofa. “You fucked Hermione Granger before the sun rose on my mother’s body! Gods…what is wrong with you? Do you have no soul?”

“I never intended for anything like that to happen, you have to believe that. It was just…I don’t know how to explain it to you when I barely understand it myself. Can you honestly believe that I would set out to…deflower…a girl barely of age? I never held with the assaults on muggle women, you know that. I still feel tremendous guilt for what I did, you can never understand the horror of seeing the blood of innocence on your body, believing that you had forced yourself on a young woman. I still feel as though I stole something from her that night, despite her protests.” He ran his fingers through his hair, still avoiding Draco’s eyes. “I ruined her life. She would have gone to university, had a normal life and probably a career but because of me she works in a shitty little bookshop, lives in a rundown little house that is smaller than my bedchamber and she raises a child…my child…alone. What is wrong with me? Gods you don’t know how many times I have asked myself the same question.”

“I’m sorry…I can’t feel sympathy for you, Father. I just can’t. You slept with another woman…you betrayed my mother and her memory…Gods I cant believe this….you had a child with another woman, with a muggle-born no less, after all your preaching and posturing over the years you went and had a half-blood child.” Draco had a right to his anger, Lucius knew he deserved it and while it hurt, he accepted it. “Did she seduce you?”

“No.” Lucius shook his head, smirking at the thought of it. “No, she didn’t. She simply offered me comfort, her sympathy, a shoulder to lean on for a moment.”

“You did a lot more than lean on her shoulder.” Draco sneered. He still couldn’t quite believe it.

“Don’t blame Hermione and don’t insult her. She is an amazing young woman. She didn’t have to keep Elias, she didn’t have to choose to change her life so dramatically but she did.” Lucius finally looked at Draco and he recoiled slightly from the pained expression on his son’s face. “I would like for you to meet your brother, when you are ready.”

“Why didn’t she tell you?”

“The reasons are obvious are they not?” Lucius shrugged. “What matters now is that I know and I am building a relationship with the boy. I hope that you would do the same…eventually.”

“I can’t look at you right now…I can’t begin to think about having a relationship with…with…” Draco struggled to find the name.

“Elias, his name is Elias.” Lucius said. “Don’t blame him, Draco. Don’t hold my actions against him, he is just a child.” 

“Oh, so suddenly you are preaching tolerance? Acceptance? When all my life you taught me to hate people who weren’t to blame for their birth? Why should I listen to you now? What did listening to you get me before? A bad reputation, servitude to a maniac, nearly losing my life and I DID lose my mother.” Draco shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. “I can’t believe this…I can not believe you would do something so heartless. I don’t like you very much right now.” 

Lucius didn’t try to stop him as he got up and walked away. Hermione was right, he was angry and it was going to take him time to work it out. Lucius had no choice but to let him go and pray that he would come to understand, that he would come to forgive him in time.

****

**~@~**

Hermione stood on her back porch and watched Elias blow bubbles in the fading light of the day. He was so happy playing with something as simple as liquid soap, dipping the plastic wand into the bottle again and again and filling the air with delicate iridescent bubbles before chasing them down and squealing in delight as he popped them between his hands. If only everything her life was as enjoyable as watching her son play. 

“Are you alright?” Hermione heard the back door creak open as Harry joined her on the porch. He laid his hand on her shoulder and she had to fight with herself not to shrug him off. 

“Not really.” She said, her voice raw and scratchy. 

“Molly and Ron left already, Molly said she will be here in the morning same time as always.” Harry sat in the lawn chair leaning against the porch rail and looked up at her. She looked so sad and very, very tired. 

“She loves Elias, despite hating me.” Hermione sighed and leaned down, folding her arms on top of the rail. She was thankful that Ron and Molly had left. She couldn’t handle any more of their negativity. She had invited them all over so that she could tell them how her situation had changed. They were horrified to discover that Lucius had been in contact with Elias and even more so when she told them that he was visiting on a regular basis with the intent to eventually reveal his relationship to Elias. 

Ron had voiced his concern for she and Elias’s well being and his worries weren’t unreasonable given Lucius’s past. While he had been honest and open about his concerns he also respected her and her decisions. It had been so hard on him when she found out she was pregnant and had to tell him what had happened that night in the Slytherin common room. Just like everyone else he had automatically assumed that she had been raped and had been more than a little shocked when she confessed that it wasn’t the case. He had tried to understand, he had even tried giving their relationship a chance, willing to stand by her and adopt her child when it was born. But it had been difficult for him when she began to show, seeing her pregnant when he had never shared her bed, knowing that another man’s child grew inside her. When Elias was born looking so very much like his father Ron realized that he couldn’t do it. 

Hermione didn’t blame him for his choice. She was heartbroken that the relationship she had craved for so long was without a doubt over, but she understood and didn’t hold it against him. In time they resumed their friendship and Ron grew fond of Elias though not like Harry. Harry had seen himself in the little boy, a fatherless child who needed someone to guide him, someone to be there for him to show him right from wrong. He had stepped into the role of Uncle and father figure without a second thought.

Molly had been the toughest. She blamed Hermione for hurting Ron, for betraying him and she didn’t hide her disappointment in her for sleeping with Lucius. She was distant and somewhat cold, disapproving of Ron’s attempt to stick with a relationship. Molly Weasley was more than a little protective of her children and Hermione understood that now that she had Elias. She would hate any woman who dared to break Elias’s heart. But despite her feelings towards Hermione, Molly loved Elias, she had from the moment she laid eyes on him. She didn’t understand how Hermione could possibly justify allowing Lucius Malfoy into Elias’s life. It didn’t matter that he was his father and she didn’t care that Lucius seemed like a different man, Molly had a very long memory and Lucius was not forgiven for his transgressions.

If nothing else, Hermione was a strong woman. She stood her ground and didn’t try to defend her decision to allow Lucius into their lives. It was her decision, her life and her child. She told them out of courtesy because Lucius was going to be around often and sooner than later it would become public knowledge that Elias Granger was in fact Elias Malfoy.

“No one hates you, Hermione. They just don’t understand your decision.” Harry hated to see her looking so down, it always made his chest ache when Hermione was upset. He didn’t want her to ever believe that she wasn’t loved. 

“Truthfully…they don’t need to understand my decision, this is about me and Elias, they just have to accept it.” She said firmly. “Lucius is his father, like it or not. I saw something in him all those years ago that made me willing to take a chance on him and I still see it. He wants to make amends and he wants to be a good father to Elias, to be what he couldn’t be for Draco…and I believe him. I’ve seen him with Elias, Harry. He has come to visit him every evening this week and he is so good with him.”

Her soft smile was telling and it surprised Harry more than he could say. She really did believe that Lucius deserved to be and _could_ be a decent father to Elias. Harry wasn’t convinced but then again the last time he had seen Lucius Malfoy he had been sitting in the center of the courtroom hearing his sentencing. And one thing was certain, he would never know him as well as Hermione.

“I want to trust your judgment, Hermione, it just may take me awhile. I want only the best for you and Elias, you know that.” He reached up to touch her hand and she looked down at him with that familiar indulgent expression she had been giving him since their younger days.

“I know that, Harry. I just wish people could trust me to know what is right for my son, what is right for me. I don’t think that this is a mistake, I _feel_ that this is the right thing for Elias.” She said, sure of herself and sure of her decision.

“I will support you, Hermione, always. I may not understand it but I trust you. I know that you would never do anything that may hurt Elias.” Harry took her hand and gave it a little squeeze. “Now, I am going to go play with Elias.” 

Hermione watched with amusement as Harry bounded off of the back porch and into the yard, wand drawn as he multiplied the bubbles. Elias’s shrieks of delight filled the air and her problems were forgotten as she lost herself in the joy of her child.


	5. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep....

****

**Chapter Five: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep…**

_In which Lucius Malfoy’s heart is stolen._

It was late in the evening when Lucius stepped out of the hearth and into Hermione’s lounge. The lamps were on casting a soft glow over the room. Her plush couch was littered with pillows and stuffed animal and Elias’s toys were scattered about on the floor. It was so normal, so…homey and he never failed to wonder at how it touched him to see the reminders of daily life. He withdrew his wand and with a simple spell her living room was tidied and set to rights once more. 

In the week that he had been visiting he had seen the exhaustion in her face, heard it in her voice but she never let it slow her down. She would come home from working all day and immediately begin preparing dinner for Elias while he either played outside or chattered incessantly. She would feed him then spend time talking to and playing with him before putting him into the bath and then to bed. In between tasks she would wash and fold laundry and clean up her tiny little house. It was exhausting to watch her but he couldn’t help admiring her. She did it all without complaint and was always ready with a smile or a hug for the chipper little boy who seemed to have boundless energy.

It was so unlike what he was used to. His own mother had spent only a few hours each day with him, leaving most of his care to his nanny. The same had been true for Draco. He had been brought out of the nursery only a couple of times each day to visit then the nannies would take him back. He couldn’t recall a single bath or bedtime ritual he had ever seen with him. He knew for certain that he had never sat on the sofa and watched Narcissa sing and do the “chicken dance” with Draco the way Hermione did with Elias. He felt guilty that Draco had been deprived of such simple joy and jealous that he had been as well. 

He couldn’t find fault with Hermione as a mother. His only complaint was that she had kept Elias from him for so long. As a parent she had far surpassed him, giving Elias a wonderful life despite the fact that she was so young and on her own. His youngest son was happy, healthy and thriving. He was a loving, joyful child and Lucius was filled with pride that something so…good...could come from him.

He didn’t see Hermione or Elias as he looked around. He glanced down at his pocket watch and realized that he was later than usual, time had gotten away from him after his conversation with Draco. He heard a squeal and a splash from down the hall, Hermione was tending to Elias’s bath. With a small smile he removed his outer robes and laid them, along with his wand, in a chair near the hearth. He listened to the sounds of a normal life and felt warm, at peace for a change. 

The sound of little feet beating out a pounding rhythm on the wood floors had him turning around. Elias was running down the hall in a pair of little briefs covered in tiny trains, his wet hair curling wildly about his head. His laughter echoed off the walls as his mother darted out of the bathroom and chased him, a pair of small red pajamas clutched in her hand.

“Elias, you get back here and get your PJs on!” Hermione called as she followed after their laughing child. Elias skidded around the corner into the living room and stopped suddenly.

“Loo-she-us!” His eyes lit up and he ran towards him, scrambling onto an ottoman and throwing himself into Lucius’s arms. Lucius caught him and held him for the first time, thinking that he should be cradling his son for the first time as an infant into the crook of his arm swaddled in soft blankets, not trying to balance a grown child in his underwear against his side. “I thought you wasn’t coming tonight!”

“Weren’t coming….I apologize for being late, Elias, I had a meeting.” There was a tightening in his chest as he felt the warmth of his son’s skin against him, smelled the sweet scent and basked in a smile so similar to his own. The child was genuinely happy to see him and it affected him more than he would have ever believed.

“I had a bath and brushed my teeth!” He smiled broadly to show Lucius two rows of tiny, pearly white teeth. He still had toothpaste over his top lip like a little mustache. He was so….perfect. Lucius was beginning to feel like a woman he was getting so sentimental over the child. 

“I don’t think you are finished, you should put your nightclothes on.” Lucius said, nodding his head towards Hermione. 

“You are in trouble, Little Man.” Hermione said, tapping her foot and trying to cover her grin. She was fairly certain that Lucius had never had to deal with Draco running about in his underwear before. Though Draco was prone to bad behavior, perhaps he had.

“I don’t want to wear jammies, I want to sleep in my shorts.” Elias said firmly, furrowing his brow at Hermione. 

“I don’t care what you want, Elias, it gets chilly at night and you need to wear your pajamas.” She said, coming towards him with the hated cotton PJs in her hands. “Little boys who disobey their mothers don’t get sweets.” 

“I’m not a little boy, I’m a man.” He said, puffing out his little chest and raising his chin in a gesture so “Malfoy” that Hermione could barely contain her snicker. 

“A man are you?” She saw Lucius’s mouth twitch as he observed their exchange and she wondered what he was thinking.

“Yes! I have a penis, I am a man.” He stated with a nod. “Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron don’t wear jimmies to bed, they sleep in their shorts and so will I.”

“Uncle Ron and Uncle Harry also let you eat dirt.” Hermione said, rolling her eyes. “And don’t talk about your penis in front of company.”

“Why not?” Elias asked.

“Because, it’s rude and penises are private and should be kept to yourself.” Hermione wondered why other mother’s never told her about the ridiculous conversations she would end up having with her child. 

“Oh…then you should tell Uncle Harry cause he wasn’t keeping his penis private at Nanna Molly’s house when he was in Aunt Ginny’s room.” Elias said. Hermione’s face flushed bright red and Lucius began to laugh, the sound rusty and only slightly sinister. “George told Uncle Ron they sag like rabbits but I didn’t see any rabbits and I don’t think rabbits sag….”

“Elias, you shouldn’t eavesdrop, we have talked about respecting people’s privacy. Remember that conversation?” Hermione was struck by the smile on Lucius’s lips, it was genuine, slightly crooked but it was a real smile, not a leer, not a smirk, but a full on smile of happiness. He was quite handsome when he smiled.

“Yes… but I wasn’t being nosey, Mummy, the door was a little bit open and I saw…” Hermione held her hand up to stop him, shaking her head in exasperation. Elias was too smart and too curious for his own good. He was so much like her with his endless curiosity. 

“I don’t care what you saw, Elias, you shouldn’t be repeating things. But I WILL be having a talk with Uncle Harry, you can count on that. Now…time to get ready for bed.” She held out his pajama top and Elias wrapped his arms around Lucius’s shoulders.

“I don’t want to!” He insisted.

“I am a man and_ I_ sleep in pajamas.” Lucius said quietly. Elias loosened his hold on his neck and leaned back, staring into his face.

“You do?” He asked, his little voice registering his surprise.

“Of course I do, I don’t want to be cold at night and it’s not very polite to run about in your underclothes nor is it appropriate for you to disobey your mother.” Lucius said firmly but without rebuke. Elias’s face fell slightly and he nodded his head slowly in understanding.

“Okay.” He said, loosening his grip on Lucius and sliding to the floor. With his head tucked low he went to his mother and lifted his arms so she could put his shirt on him. “I’m sorry, Mummy. I don’t want to be not propriate.”

“The word is _inappropriate_, and thank you for apologizing.” Hermione held out his bottoms and he stepped into them then pulled them up. She kissed the top of his head and nudged his chin with her knuckles until he looked up. “Ready for a story?” 

Elias nodded, his sweet little smile back in place. He looked back over his shoulder at Lucius then back to his mother.

“Can Loo-she-us read me a story tonight, Mummy?” He asked. Hermione’s heart broke a little as Elias invited Lucius into their bedtime ritual, something that had been just _theirs_ since he had been born. She tried not to let it show, smiling softly as she reached out to tug on a silky curl.

“If that’s what you want.” She said softly. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her neck, squeezing tightly before giving her a loud, smacking kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight, Mummy.”

“Goodnight, Baby, I love you.” She was fighting tears as he pulled away and reached for Lucius’s hand.

“I love you, too. Come on, Loo-she-us!” Lucius allowed himself to be tugged along, meeting Hermione’s eyes briefly, her tears glistening on her lashes. She smiled sweetly and nodded her head, letting him know without words that it was alright, her tears were her issue to deal with.

He hated to leave her there, kneeling on the floor with tears in her eyes but Elias was pulling in earnest, guiding him down the hall and into his little bedroom. His room was rather neat given his tendency to scatter his toys. A toy-chest sat below the window with the top up, toy trains hanging over the edge. An overflowing book shelf sat along one wall, a small desk and a bureau along another. It was simple and small but Elias didn’t seem to mind as he scrambled onto his bed and crawled beneath his blue and red patchwork quilt.

“Do you know any stories?” Elias asked, scooting over to the far edge of the bed. “You sit here.” He said, pointing to the empty space on the bed. Lucius sat down beside him and leaned back against the headboard, unsure of what he was doing.

“I am not certain that I do.” He admitted. He of course _knew_ many stories but he doubted that any of them were suitable for a child his age.

“I have this one! I like this story!” Elias reached out and grabbed a book from his bedside table and handed it to Lucius. The hard cover was a glaring bright orange and he turned it over in his hands curiously.

“Green Eggs and Ham?” Lucius made a disgusted face and opened the book. He was shocked when Elias burrowed into his side, sliding his head beneath his arm so that his head rested on Lucius’s shoulder. With his heart full Lucius began to read through the ridiculous book filled with rhyming words and an annoyingly demanding character named Sam I Am. By the time he reached the end and Sam had achieved his goal of forcing the other poor creature to eat spoiled food, Elias was sound asleep and snoring lightly against his father, even if he didn’t know it. 

Lucius laid the book aside and slowly slid his arm from beneath the child’s head. Elias made a soft snuffling noise and snuggled into the pillow, his knees tucked into his chest and his hands beneath his head. He looked like a little cherub sleeping sweetly against the navy blue sheets. He pulled the slightly faded quilt up over him, tucking it around him so he would stay warm. He couldn’t resist reaching out to finger the soft golden curls, pushing them out of his face. 

“You are so unexpected.” He whispered, staring at him in awe. He couldn’t recall ever watching Draco sleep and guilt assailed him. “You are my second chance, my chance to be a better man. I will not fail you.” He surprised himself and did what he had seen Hermione do a dozen times in the last week, he leaned forward and kissed the top of Elias’s head. He turned to leave and saw Hermione leaning against the doorframe, her eyes misty once more. She reached inside and turned off the light and waited for him to walk past her. He nearly brushed up against her as they crossed in the doorway, his spicy scent tickling her nostrils as she joined him in the hall and pulled Elias’s bedroom door closed.

“Green Eggs and Ham?” She asked softly as they walked back to the living room.

“Yes…what a strange book.” Lucius said, his brow furrowed.

“His favorite. Would you like a drink? I think I may have some lemonade…”

“Nothing stronger?” He asked.

“No, not with Elias around. I haven’t had a drink since that night. It was my first drink and my last.” She said, gesturing towards the sofa. Normally he left as soon as Elias went to bed so he was somewhat baffled by her friendliness. 

“I have so much to be proud of, not only did I seduce you but I corrupted you with alcohol first.” He said sarcastically. 

“I don’t recall a seduction.” She laughed softly. “The whiskey just didn’t suit me I guess.”

“So I put you off of sex and whiskey, kudos for me.” He said as he moved his robes and wand onto the ottoman and sat down.

“I don’t know if you put me off of it.” She said on a soft laugh as she let her head fall back against the cushions. “Truth is I have been too busy and too tired to even try drinking….or the other, again.” 

“Did I hurt you?” He asked quietly, almost a whisper. She looked at him through hooded eyes, her cheeks warming as the meaning behind his question registered.

“No, not really. I was a little sore for a few days but that was to be expected…all things considered. Why?” He visibly relaxed, sinking back into the plush chair and letting his hands rest on the arms.

“I don’t recall a lot of what happened, but I know that I was not gentle with you, I didn’t…I mean, there was no…you weren’t ready for what occurred and I saw your blood on me…I saw it on you and that image…THAT image remained clear in my mind for all these years. I was afraid I had hurt you badly.” He said, his cheeks flushing to match hers. It was such an uncomfortable situation but necessary in his mind.

“No, you didn’t hurt me badly. I was a virgin, the blood was normal, not the result of any serious injury. Don’t let it haunt you, Lucius.” She smiled at him and he was again struck by her generous nature. He still didn’t understand why she did not blame him. “You usually come just after dinner, is everything alright?”

“I told Draco.” He said, his lips tight and his hands fisting. She pursed her lips and exhaled slowly.

“I take it things didn’t go well?” She didn’t figure that Draco would take the news well. Especially given the timeline. 

“No, he was very angry, very hurt. He feels as though I betrayed his mother, that somehow what happened meant that I didn’t care that Narcissa was dead. I don’t know how to make him understand when I don’t fully understand it myself.” He shook his head and looked over at a photo of Elias on the mantel. “Do you know that Elias looks like Draco when he was little?”

“Does he?” Hermione had noticed similarities of course, his eyes, the mischievous smile and sly tendencies. Even the way he held his learner’s wand in his fist reminded her of the way Draco held his when they were in school.

“Oh yes, I was looking at photographs and they look so much alike except that Elias is healthier and his coloring is not as fair. I never read to Draco the way I did Elias tonight. I never got on the floor and played with him as I have in the last few evenings. I failed on so many fronts with Draco, I’ve let him down so many times…I don’t want to be that kind of father to Elias. I want to do it right this time.” He caught her gaze and held it. “I am sorry if you were hurt earlier when he asked me to read to him.”

“No, it’s alright. I won’t lie to you, it is very hard to share him with you. He was mine for so long…it was just me and Elias. It isn’t easy for me to let go but I know it’s the right thing. So far you are doing great, Lucius.” She said, covering her mouth as she yawned.

“Well, it’s only been a week, let’s hope I don’t make a mess of things.” He chuckled. “I will never come between you, Hermione. You are a wonderful mother and I am amazed by everything you have managed to accomplish on your own. He is a fine boy, a son any man would be proud of.” 

“Even though he is a half-blood?” Old insecurities raised their heads and she regretted it the moment the words passed her lips.

“Even though he is a half-blood.” Lucius said quietly. “I won’t hold that against him, I learned my lesson the hard way but I learned it well.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I should go, you must be tired.” He said, getting to his feet and retrieving his robes and wand.

“I am. Thank you for tidying up…I didn’t know that you knew any cleaning spells.” She smiled.

“I learned a few in school. Hermione….do you have a day off this weekend?” He asked, donning his robes.

“I have Sunday off.” She said, looking at him curiously.

“Elias mentioned a muggle zoo…I thought perhaps we could go if you weren’t busy.” He saw her tilt her head and look at him strangely. “If you would rather not….”

“NO….no….the zoo sounds lovely, it will be nice to get out a little before the weather turns off too cold. Elias will be thrilled, thank you.” She said.

“Very good, I will see you on Sunday then.” He felt uncomfortable, unsure of what he was supposed to do next.

“You aren’t coming tomorrow evening?” 

“I don’t want to make a burden of myself.” He said sheepishly.

“It’s fine, Elias looks forward to your visits. He likes you.” She laid her hand on his arm, a gesture she had performed a million times with Harry, The Weasleys and any number of other people over the years, but it was the first time she felt electricity vibrate through her palm and up her arm. 

“Alright…I shall see you tomorrow then.” He said, staring at her small hand against his arm.

“Right…goodnight, Lucius.” She said, drawing her hand back and rubbing her palm against her thigh. 

“Goodnight.” He moved into the fireplace hurriedly, needing to escape the strange tension filling the room around them. As he stepped back into his own home he expected to be able to breathe easier but it wasn’t that easy…he could still feel her touch on his arm. Why?


	6. Wizard's Day Out

****

** Chapter Six: Wizard’s Day Out**

_Where Elias begins to wonder._

Hermione wasn’t sure what she was expecting as she waited for Lucius to arrive on Sunday for their outing, but it certainly wasn’t what came through her fireplace. As Lucius ducked through the small opening and straightened to his full height all of the breath in her lungs left in a stunned whoosh. She had expected his normal trousers and dress shirt with finely tailored robes over that, probably a pair of leather gloves and maybe even a ribbon in his hair. He was nothing if not flamboyant in his wardrobe and she figured she would have to simply shrug off his unusual appearance by telling people he was eccentric or something along those lines.

What she absolutely did NOT expect was a pair of relaxed fit denims, a white button down shirt left un-tucked , the top two buttons undone and instead of robes he wore a tailored brown suede blazer that matched his brown leather shoes perfectly. He looked up and caught her staring.

“Is something wrong?” He asked.

“What are you wearing?” She asked with wide eyes. She couldn’t stop looking at him, he looked incredible.

“I didn’t think wizarding robes would be appropriate in a muggle zoo so I went shopping. The sales clerk said that this was appropriate…did I make a mistake?” He looked down at himself, suddenly unsure.

“No, you didn’t make a mistake, you look amazing…I just didn’t expect to see you in muggle attire…ever.” She blinked rapidly as he squared his shoulders and pushed his hair back, once more confident in his appearance.

“My old ways weren’t working for me so I figured I should be open to new things, muggle things.” He smirked. “I am glad you approve.” 

Hermione blushed, she couldn’t think of a single word to say as he stood there smiling at her looking ridiculously gorgeous. She felt a little frumpy in her comfortable, faded jeans and soft long sleeved tee. As she stared at him she wished she had fixed herself up a little more, done more than simply plait her hair and worn a little more makeup. She didn’t realize that he found her fresh faced innocence and simple, comfort driven style attractive. He was just about to tell her that she looked lovely when Elias skidded into the room carrying his shoes, his face alight with excitement.

“Loo-she-us! I’m ready to go!” He said as he plopped down at Lucius’s feet and began tugging on his trainers making sure to check the bottoms first to ensure that they went on the right feet. He leaned back and lifted both feet into the air, confusing Lucius.

“What is he doing?” Lucius asked Hermione.

“He wants you to tie his shoes.” She laughed as she began shoving things into a small knapsack. Lucius gave her an odd look then knelt down in front of Elias and began going through the motions of tying the little boy’s shoes, explaining the process as he went. He no sooner tightened the bow and Elias literally popped back onto his feet in an instant. 

“Can we go?” He asked, bouncing excitedly on his feet.

“How are we traveling?” Hermione asked as she swung the knapsack onto her back.

“Floo, there are un-plotted castle ruins nearby, the hearth is still standing. It once belonged to a rather prominent wizarding family. We will arrive there and walk the short distance to the zoo.” He said.

“I don’t recall seeing any ruins near that location.” Hermione said, brow furrowed as she searched her memory.

“How long has it been since you went to the zoo?” He asked.

“I was…eight?” She was uncertain, it had been a very long time and her parents hadn’t been the ‘outdoorsy’ type so trips to the zoo had been infrequent.

“You hadn’t yet tapped into your magic so you wouldn’t have seen it. Only those in tune with their magic, or born to magical parents, can see or reveal magical locations. It is how we have survived so long without muggles finding out about us.” He wasn’t sure why he was explaining it to her, she already knew but for some reason he couldn’t stop himself. Her indulgent smile only encouraged his verbal incontinence. “But of course you already know that, don’t you?”

“I didn’t!” Elias said, reaching up for Lucius’s hand. “Why would we hide from muddles?”

“Muggles…and we aren’t hiding from them, we are hiding our world, our magic.” He said, wrapping his fingers around his son’s smaller ones.

“Cause if they knew about us they would use us as sleeves.” Elias said with a firm nod.

“Sleeves?” Lucius queried.

“He means slaves, he has been listening to Percy Weasley preaching from his soap box.” Hermione answered. “Shall we go?”

Lucius smiled and activated the floo, leading them into the hearth and out through the old stone fireplace standing amid a pile of fallen stone and surrounded by trees. 

“Oh….this is lovely.” Hermione said in awe as she looked around at the ruins.

“No it isn’t, this house is broken.” Elias said, frowning as he looked around and wondered what his mother was talking about.

“When you are older you will be able to see beyond the “broken house” to what once stood here. Once upon a time this was a grand house and a great wizarding family lived here.” Lucius said as he lifted Elias over the remains of the house’s foundation. He reached out and grabbed Hermione’s elbow as she stepped over it and he nearly stumbled from the shock that went through him when he touched her. What in the hell was going on?

“I want to see the monkeys.” Elias said. “I like the ones with the red bums.” 

Lucius looked back at Hermione and she just shook her head. Elias was like a sponge, he just absorbed information especially if it was something he shouldn’t. He said whatever he was thinking without a care for who was present. That was the beautiful thing about children, their candidness and their innocence, but it could also be an embarrassing thing when they were revealing secrets. 

Lucius didn’t comment as Elias continued to chatter about monkeys, one hand tucked into his mother’s and the other tucked into Lucius’s as they made their way onto the busy street and headed to the zoo. As his knowledge on monkeys dwindled Elias took to picking up his feet, his parents swinging him between them as they walked. Hermione figured that he would be put out by Elias’s exuberance but he just smiled and went along with the program, swinging the laughing boy until his arm ached from the effort.

Hermione stared at Lucius as they stood in the box office queue. He had reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a pair of trendy sunglasses that made him look like a movie star or a hero on the cover of a novel. Women were staring at him and glaring at Hermione enviously. For some reason it struck her how unlikely it was that a man like him had fathered her child. Sure, he hadn’t really wanted her but none the less, that handsome man, the one all those women coveted, had been her lover and was the father of her child. She suddenly felt very smug.

Lucius paid for their admission and they passed through the gate, his hand resting on the small of her back as she walked in front of him. It was such a simple gesture, one that any number of men had performed over the years, but she felt his touch, the heat of his skin through the cotton tee shirt. She knew how they looked as they walked into the zoo with Elias between them. They looked like a family.

As the sun shone down between clouds that slowly thickened throughout the day, Lucius and Hermione followed behind their rambunctious son. They conversed casually but mostly they just basked in the delight of the little boy who bounded from one animal enclosure to the next. They had to step in at one point and take Elias aside when he decided that he liked purple flamingos instead of pink, lucky for them the only person paying attention was an elderly woman whose family waved off her comments and chalked them up to senility.

“I want an ice cream!” Elias said, grabbing Lucius’s hand and dragging him to the vendor’s cart. 

“Elias, that was rude! How do you ask for what you want?” Hermione admonished.

“I’m sorry, Mummy. May I have an ice cream…Please?” He pleaded, batting his baby blues at them.

“One strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone please.” Hermione told the vendor as she reached into her pocket for her money. She felt Lucius’s hand on her arm stopping her as he handed the bills over. “Lucius, you paid for us to get in and you paid for lunch…”

“And I can afford to keep on paying, let me do this, Hermione.” He said softly as he handed the cone to Elias.

“Oh my, aren’t you a sweet young man!” The older woman manning the cart exclaimed as she knelt down to Elias’s level.

“Hello.” Elias said as he buried his mouth into his treat. The woman pinched his cheeks then looked up at Lucius.

“Well, he certainly has his Daddy’s eyes, doesn’t he?” She smiled. “Have a wonderful day!” 

Elias didn’t stop eating but his eyes shifted up to Lucius curiously. Why did that lady say he had his Daddy’s eyes? He didn’t have a Daddy. Was it because Loo-she-us had blue eyes too?

“I think we have time to ride the carousel one last time before we go.” Hermione announced, her voice betraying her stress over the woman’s casual comment. Her eyes met Lucius’s and he understood her need to direct Elias’s attention elsewhere despite the fact that he longed to pull the boy into his arms and tell him he was his father.

They walked in silence to the carousel, the adults unaware of the thoughts running through a little mind. Why did that lady think Loo-she-us was his daddy? Why was he visiting them all the time? Why did he stare at Mummy when she wasn’t looking? He devoured his ice cream, his little head filled with questions that had no answer. He finished his treat and handed his token to the ride operator and climbed onto a horse. It wasn’t as cool as riding a unicorn or a hippogriff but it was fun none the less. With every rotation he would smile and wave at his mother and Loo-she-us standing side by side and waving back at him. 

At the end of their outing the sun was completely gone from sight and the early evening air had grown chilled. Lucius walked slowly with a sleeping Elias in his arms. He didn’t complain as he absorbed the slight weight of his son against him. He had his skinny little legs wrapped around his waist and his head resting on Lucius’s shoulder, a half eaten bag of green candy floss clutched in his hand. 

“He had a wonderful time today.” Hermione said softly as she looked at her son’s flushed and sticky face as he slumbered in his father’s arms.

“And you?” He inquired, reaching out to hold her wrist as they crossed a busy street.

“I enjoyed it as well.” She said softly as they reached the other side. Their eyes met as her pulse began to throb beneath his fingers and they stood there for several moments in silence. Whatever was happening between them was tangible, the magic churning just below the surface threatened to manifest itself and it was frightening to both of them. “Did you have fun?”

“I did.” He said, slowly releasing her wrist and immediately feeling the loss. “I can’t believe the little imp changed the color of those birds.” He chuckled.

“Elias used magic for the first time when he was barely a year old. He was upset about being weaned, he didn’t like the bottle so he would vanish them. Somewhere is a large stockpile of baby bottles.” She smiled at the memory. “He’s a very powerful wizard for a boy his age, but like any child he lacks the willpower to control his impulses.”

“I am not surprised that he would be powerful. I am not without substantial skill and you have been touted more than once as the brightest witch of your age, together we were destined to create a powerful child.” He was somewhat arrogant in his declaration but it was difficult to be annoyed when what he said was true.

“What was Draco like as a child? Before Hogwarts where he was an arrogant little cretin from the moment I met him.” She asked. 

“That was my fault I’m afraid, I was a terrible father and encouraged his bad behavior.” Lucius said as he shifted Elias in his arms. “I have to admit that I spent very little time with him. He was raised by the nannies like the majority of pureblood children, he would be brought out of the nursery for visits and when he was old enough he joined us at meal time and the occasional social event. I can remember him as a baby, so small and delicate that I was afraid I would break him. He was born early and wasn’t the healthiest of children. When he was two he tumbled down the main staircase at the manor and broke his clavicle chasing a toy snitch.” Lucius smiled as that forgotten memory resurfaced. “I thought it would have deterred him but no sooner had he healed than he was chasing it again. He was a natural born seeker.”

“Did you play Quidditch when you were young?” She asked, realizing she knew so little about him.

“I was a beater.” He said. “I played for Slytherin house from my third year on. I don’t know where Draco got his seeker skills, perhaps from his mother’s side. When he was five I hired a tutor to coach him. He was born to fly, I’ve never known a child to take to a broom as quickly as Draco.”

“Sounds like Elias is a lot like his older brother. He took to the broom like a duck to water.” She said as they breached the magical barrier that looked like a simple line of trees to the muggle population.

“I hope that some day Draco can get beyond his anger and meet his brother. He always wanted siblings but Narcissa was unable to carry another pregnancy to term. She was a delicate woman but she loved Draco fiercely, would have done anything to protect him. She died trying to protect him.” He said quietly as they stepped over the scattered stones of the ruins.

“As a mother I can tell you that I would have done the same had it been Elias. No sacrifice is too great for the safety and well being of my son.” She activated the floo since Lucius’s hands were full and then followed him through and back into her house. 

“_Now_ I can see where my priorities should have been. Of course it is too late.” He sounded weary as he walked down the hall to Elias’s room and waited for Hermione to turn down his covers.

“Not too late. It is never too late to realize how important family is, Lucius.” She said as she stepped aside and allowed him to lay Elias in the center. 

“He will never have nightmares because of me the way Draco does.” He said thoughtfully as he watched Hermione undress their son. 

“No, he dreams of trains and monkeys, as it should be.” She laughed, leaving him in his tee shirt and underwear. She pulled his quilt up and tucked it beneath his chin before leaning down to kiss the top of his head. “Sweet dreams, Baby.”

Lucius ruffled his curls and they slipped out the door, closing it behind them. He followed her into the sitting room and caught himself admiring her rounded backside in snug denim. He couldn’t recall the last time he had ogled a woman. One would have expected a man who had been in prison to search out the nearest easy lay but he had found himself sadly uninterested, instead of seeking pleasure he had simply sought to resume his life and find answers to the questions that had plagued him. Then he found Elias and a family he didn’t know he had and the urges of his body had gone to the wayside. At least they _had_ before he noticed the enticing sway of her hips when she walked. Damn.

“Well, I should go, it’s been a long day and I know you are tired.” He said when they stopped in front of the fireplace.

“Thank you for today, Lucius, it was a wonderful day, truly.” She said, smiling shyly. Could she possibly be flirting with him? No, it was just his imagination and his slowly awakening libido’s wishful thinking.

“Perhaps we could try taking Elias out to dinner this week…if you are free and would like to of course.” He had never felt as nervous in his life as he did when he spoke to her.

“You know that you don’t have to take us out and spend money, don’t you?” 

“I know, but I would very much like to take you to dinner, both of you.” He said.

“That would be lovely.” She said, reaching out and stroking his arm. It was a friendly gesture meant to be casual but it left a trail of tingling heat up his arm that had his stomach trembling.

“We will discuss it…goodnight, Hermione.” He had to get away, the air in the room was too thick and he couldn’t breathe.

“Goodnight, Lucius.” When he disappeared into the swirl of green flames Hermione fell back onto the sofa and stared into the empty hearth. “My gods what am I doing?” She asked herself as she laid a hand on her stomach to calm her nerves. She couldn’t let herself be attracted to him, it was too dangerous for her and for Elias, she had to keep her distance. But gods it wasn’t going to be easy if he insisted on being so kind. Why couldn’t he keep being a prick, it was so much easier not to like him that way. She went to bed and prayed that he didn’t haunt her dreams. When she woke up two hours later sweating with an insistent throbbing between her thighs she realized that keeping her distance would be harder than she thought.


	7. From the Mouths of Babes

****

**Chapter 7: From the Mouths of Babes**

_When Elias becomes curious…more curious._

It was Wednesday evening and Lucius was standing alone in the middle of Hermione’s sitting room waiting for her and Elias to finish getting ready for dinner. He stood patiently, his hands tucked into the pockets of his new three piece muggle-style suit made especially for him by a designer named Giorgio Armani. It had cost a small fortune, not to mention the fact that the man was exceptionally arrogant but it was worth it, the suit was a work of art.

His eyes drifted from the tips of his shiny black shoes to the basket of folded laundry on the coffee table. The house always smelled of fresh laundry and he was struck by how oddly pleasant it was. Who would have thought something so domestic could have such a comforting affect? His attention was caught by a scrap of white lace folded into a small triangle on top, a small powder blue bow in the center. Curious he reached out with two fingers and picked it up, his eyes widening when it unfolded to reveal a pair of woman’s knickers. He was immediately struck with the mental picture of her wearing them…only them…and his trousers grew suddenly tight. 

“We’re ready.” He heard her voice behind them and immediately dropped the panties back onto the top of the basket. He shoved his hands back in his pockets, pulling the material away from the evidence of his arousal so she wouldn’t see before turning around to face them. Elias stood there dressed in a pair of grey trousers, grey jumper and a white oxford shirt beneath that. His hair was combed back into a neat ponytail at his nape and he had the most unhappy expression on his face that Lucius had ever seen. 

Hermione made him stop in his tracks. For a moment he thought that his heart and lungs had seized on him before he was finally able to draw breath again. She was standing beside Elias in what should have been a simple frock. The dark claret color against her creamy skin brought out the flush in her cheeks and the streaks of fire in her hair. It was fitted at the bodice with a boat-neck collar and three-quarter sleeves. It was belted at the waist and he could see the edge of a black petticoat peeking out from the hem where it ended at her knees. He could tell that she was unsure of herself as she swayed on sleek black heels and nervously bit her lip.

“You look…lovely.” He said hoarsely, unable to take his eyes away from her. 

“Thank you…it’s Jessa’s.” She said, blushing at his compliment. “You look handsome…muggle clothing again I see.” He had heard women commenting on his appearance for as long as he could remember but it never made him feel as good as hearing it from her. 

“I figured that we should steer clear of wizarding locales until….” He trailed off but he saw her nod in understanding. A soft curl escaped the pins holding her hair up and fell over her ear and he fought the urge to reach out and touch it. He had to force himself to look away. His growing attraction to the young witch was troubling to say the least. He didn’t understand it and wasn’t sure how to deal with it. It was complicated on so many levels. How was it that when he bedded her all those years ago he hadn’t felt any attraction to her at all but after the fact, after the damage had been done, she was all he thought about?

“These shoes pinch my feet.” Elias whined, drawing Lucius’s attention from Hermione.

“It’s because they are new, you will get used to them.” Hermione said softly. 

“I want to wear my trainers.” He said, his hands in his pockets as he pouted. 

“We are going out for a nice dinner, Elias, trainers are inappropriate. I too am wearing new dress shoes, see?” Lucius held out one leather shod foot for Elias to examine. “It will be fine.” 

“How are we traveling this evening?” Hermione asked.

“We are driving, I have a car out front.” Lucius smirked when her face registered her surprise.

“You drive?” She was more than a little surprised; she always assumed that he relied on servants for everything.

“I learned when I was a very young man. Granted I don’t do it often anymore but I enjoy driving very much, especially when I need to clear my head.” He was pleased to have stunned her so. He wanted her to see that he was just a man like any other and that there was more to him than who he used to be. “It is a bit chilly this evening, you will want jackets.”

Hermione went to the hall wardrobe and withdrew Elias’s small woolen pea-coat. Once he was buttoned into it she withdrew her own dress cloak. Lucius immediately took it from her and helped her into it.

“Mummy, why can’t you put your own cloak on?” Elias asked, watching them curiously.

“A gentleman helps a lady with her coat, Elias. It is called chivalry.” Lucius said as he settled the cloak around her shoulders.

“Oh…will you teach me shivery?” Elias asked.

“Chivalry, and I could try, it is never too early to learn proper manners.” Lucius smiled at his young son as he withdrew the keys from his trouser pocket.

“Oh, I know about manners! Please and excuse me and you shouldn’t pass wind at the table!” Elias was grinning from ear to ear, proud to pass on what he learned.

“Well, that’s a start, but it is also impolite to speak of bodily functions in the company of a lady.” Lucius said, fighting back his grin.

“But it’s just Mum.” Elias said.

“She is still a lady and deserving of proper respect.” Lucius said as they exited the front door. He heard Hermione gasp when she saw his vehicle parked in the drive. 

“That car is awesome!” Elias exclaimed as he jumped off of the porch and ran for the shiny black and chrome automobile.

“Dear Gods, Lucius! That car is…”

“A Rolls Royce Phantom, top of the line and modified for a wizard’s needs though that matters little tonight as we aren’t going to be in a wizarding town. I did purchase a child safety seat for Elias and had it installed earlier this week so you need not concern yourself with his safety.” Lucius held out his hand and led her down the steps to the car. He pressed the button on his key fob and heard the whisper soft ‘snick’ of the locks disengaging. 

“The doors open funny!” Elias said giddily as he opened the back door and scrambled inside, settling into his seat and fastening the buckles expertly.

“They are called coach doors.” Lucius explained as he opened the door for Hermione.

“Mum can open her own car door, Loo-she-us. Is that shivery again?” He asked from the back seat when Lucius slid into the driver’s seat.

“Yes it is.” Lucius should have expected that Elias would talk the entire drive, but it surprised him none the less when the child chattered from the moment he got into the car. What is that pole for? What is that? Is that a cow? Can I push it over? Is that a donkey? Is that animal on the road dead? Can I poke it with a stick? Can I play with this umbrella? That music sucks can we listen to something else? I’m hungry, can we go to McDonalds?

By the time they arrived at the restaurant Lucius and Hermione had answered some of the most ridiculous questions ever asked. Elias had an endless supply of curiosity and the truth was that it was flat out exhausting. Lucius reveled in the few brief moments of silence that came when he stepped out of the car in front of the valet and walked around to open Hermione’s door and let Elias out. She smiled so sweetly at him, a smile of understanding as Elias immediately began asking more questions when his door was opened. 

Why are we giving that man your car? Where is he taking it?

Why is that lady taking our coats? Is she going to clean them?

Why is that man wearing that funny red jacket? Do they have chicken fingers here?

Lucius wondered how Hermione did it every day all day without going crazy. He supposed that one would grow accustomed to it over time, at least he certainly hoped so.

“I have to go potty.” Elias announced as soon as they were seated. Hermione moved to stand but Lucius stopped her. He wanted her to enjoy their evening out as he suspected that she didn’t get them very often.

“I will take him, you look over the menu.” He said, getting up and taking Elias’s hand. Once inside the men’s room Elias disappeared into a cubicle.

“Don’t leave me!” Elias said as he fumbled with his trousers.

“I am standing right outside the door.” Lucius said, folding his hands in front of him awkwardly. He had never been responsible for taking Draco to the restroom and he didn’t know what was expected of him.

“Ok…don’t leave and don’t come in, I can wipe my own bum.” He announced rather loudly.

“That’s wonderful.” Lucius muttered, shaking his head. His brow furrowed when he heard Elias begin to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Why on earth was the child singing in the loo? Lucius grew even more uncomfortable as other patrons entered, he no doubt looked strange just standing there in the middle of the restroom. 

“These trousers make my bum itch!” Elias called. “I don’t like to dress up.” 

A couple of the other men snickered over the sink, giving him a sympathetic look through the mirror’s reflection. No doubt they had young children and empathized.

“You don’t have to dress up often, Elias. If those trousers are uncomfortable I will talk to your mother about buying you some new ones that do not itch.” He said. The door opened behind him and Elias stepped out holding his trousers up with both hands.

“I can’t do them up.” He said. Lucius knelt down and reached out hesitantly to fasten the boy’s clothing. “Thank you!” He said, running to the sink to wash his hands.

“Push your sleeves up so that they remain dry.” Lucius said, reaching around him to push the sleeves of his jumper and shirt out of the way while he washed his hands. He was certain that it didn’t require the amount of soap used by the child to get his hands clean, nor did it require excessive splashing but they eventually got the job done. Lucius turned off the water and a man in a black suit stepped forward with a towel. 

“Hello, I’m Elias, who are you?” He asked as Lucius took the towel and began drying Elias’s hands.

“I am Scott, it is a pleasure to meet you Master Elias.” He said smiling.

“Do you live here?” Elias asked the attendant while Lucius refastened his cuffs and righted his jumper.

“No, I work here. I keep the men’s room tidy and make certain that you have what you need.” The attendant chuckled. 

“Oh…I need new trousers that don’t make my bum itch and shoes that don’t pinch my feet.” Elias said as Lucius slipped the man a tip and thanked him for his time.

“Well, good luck with finding new trousers and shoes, sir.” Scott said as he waved goodbye to the charming child and his father. Lucius led Elias back to the table and pushed his chair forward before sitting back down himself.

“Everything go alright?” Hermione asked.

“We got along just fine, do not worry.” Lucius said as he opened the menu. “Do you know what you want?” 

“Yes, I’ll have the penne and vegetables in crème sauce and a house salad please.” She said softly. “Elias will have the cheese ravioli and applesauce.” 

When the server returned Lucius ordered their dinner along with a bottle of sweet chardonnay for he and Hermione.

“You will like this better than the whiskey, I promise.” He said, smiling when the sommelier brought the wine to their table. Elias looked up from the coloring pages the hostess had brought him and saw Lucius staring at Hermione.

“Are you going to sleep in my mum’s bed?” He asked. The sommelier coughed, the bottle clinking against the glass as he dribbled wine down the side. Hermione’s face flamed and she ducked her head in embarrassment. Elias thanked the sommelier and turned to Elias when the man excused himself.

“Elias, that was a highly inappropriate question, why would you ask such a thing?” Lucius kept his voice tightly controlled despite the fact that he was upset. Elias was just a child and he didn’t understand what he was asking, didn’t realize that he had embarrassed his mother with the question.

“I’m sorry…it’s just…you were looking at her like Uncle Harry looks at Aunt Ginny when he is gonna sleep in her bed. I thought maybe you were going to sleep in mum’s bed.” Elias looked at his mother and his bottom lip quivered slightly. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“It’s alright, Baby, you just shouldn’t ask such things in public. Some conversations should be left in private.” She said, reaching for the wine in front of her and taking a sip. It was sweeter than she expected with a hint of citrus, she liked it.

“Elias, what do you know of such things?” Lucius asked curiously. Draco had been ten when a consultant was hired to explain the fine points of biology to him. How was it that Elias knew about adults sharing beds and what a ‘look’ could mean?

“Oh I know all about six and parades and babies.” Elias said excitedly. Hermione groaned and closed her eyes.

“Do you now?” Lucius smirked, rather amused.

“Yes! Uncle Harry sleeps in Aunt Ginny’s bed and now she missed her parade and Nana Molly told them it served them right for having six before getting buried.” He retold the story with a gleeful smile.

“I swear that child would make a brilliant spy.” Lucius mumbled. Hermione kicked him beneath the table and he gave her a sheepish look. “I’m just saying.”

“Elias, you shouldn’t be listening to other people’s conversations and you most certainly shouldn’t be repeating what you hear. Think of it as a secret.” Hermione said. “Unless it is something that’s going to result in someone being hurt, you should keep what you hear to yourself.” 

“Oh…so I shouldn’t tell people that Uncle Ron got lobsters from a Quidditch harpy?” He asked. Lucius couldn’t contain it, he roared with laughter and Hermione just sighed, sometimes she thought motherhood was like fighting a battle that was impossible to win.

“Lucius, don’t encourage him.” She admonished.

“I apologize.” He was still chuckling as he reached for his wine, intending to hide his laughter behind the glass. “It was rather funny.” He said into the glass just before he took a drink.

“Can I have a drink of that?” Elias asked.

“NO!” Hermione and Lucius said at the same time. Elias’s eyes were wide as saucers as he sat back in his chair. 

“Your mother is right, Elias, you shouldn’t go around repeating the things you hear, it isn’t your place to spread other people’s business around.” Lucius said once he got control over his mirth.

“So you aren’t doing six with mum?” He asked just as the server brought a basket of bread to the table. The basket slid from the poor man’s hand and bread spilled across the table as he scrambled to set it to rights. When he walked away Hermione started to speak but Lucius held up his hand to stop her.

“Elias, that question is beyond inappropriate and quite frankly it’s none of your business. I understand you are curious about me and what my role is in your life and in your mother’s but I will _not_ stand for you embarrassing her any further. Am I understood?” Lucius’s voice was firm but controlled. Hermione could see that it affected Elias, he knew he had crossed a line.

“Yes sir.” Elias said, his voice small and chagrined. He liked Loo-she-us and didn’t want him to be upset with him. “I’m sorry.” 

“Apology accepted, now, can we enjoy our dinner please?” Lucius laid his napkin in his lap and changed the topic of conversation to something less risqué and more appropriate for a ‘family’ dinner. Quidditch.

By the time dinner was over and they had all climbed back into the car Lucius had been talked into taking Elias to see a professional Quidditch match. They were barely out of the city when Lucius saw Elias slumped over in his seat, his head bouncing with every rut in the road. It amazed him how the child could just fall asleep that way, without a care in the world, without worrying that nightmares and images from his past were going to haunt him.

“You handled him well in the restaurant.” Hermione said, breaking up the silence that seemed suffocating in the small interior of the car.

“I kept telling myself that he is only a child and didn’t know better.” Lucius said as they left the bright lights of the city for the dim country roads. 

“I really need to talk to the boys about watching what they say when Elias is around. I think that they believe he isn’t listening when he is playing with his toys.” She glanced over at him, his face cast in a soft glow from the illuminated dash. “I’m sorry that he got personal.”

“He didn’t bother me, what bothered me was that he embarrassed you.” Lucius said, glancing over at her for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road. “I never thought I’d have a four year old ask me if I was having sex with his mother.” 

“I never thought to hear it either.” She laughed. “Perhaps I should explain exactly what it is he is talking about so that he understands how personal a subject it is.”

“Explain six and parades and lobsters?” Lucius chuckled. “Better you than me.”

“You didn’t explain it to Draco?” She asked, thinking that the sound of his laughter was pleasant.

“No, I hired someone to explain it. When he was old enough I hired…” He trailed off, some things were just better left unsaid.

“No! You didn’t!” He gave her another of those sheepish looks that she found…well she found them adorable though she’d never admit it. “You really hired someone to…break him in?”

“I told you I was a bad father to Draco, it was what my father did for me, what other father’s did for their sons…don’t worry, I promise that I will not take Elias to a brothel when he comes of age.” He said.

“I would certainly hope not! A first time should be about first love, not a tumble with a courtesan.” She said, still smiling.

“Yours wasn’t. I am sorry for that.” He said softly. Gods what he wouldn’t give to make it up to her. He shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable with the path his thoughts were taking.

“No need to be sorry, Lucius. I can never regret it because it resulted in Elias. So maybe it wasn’t about love or passion and maybe there weren’t fireworks, but in the end it remains the most memorable experience of my life to date.” She reached out and lay her hand on his where it rested on the gear shift between them. He turned his hand over and squeezed her fingers for just a moment then released her as though her touch burned him. She laid her hands back in her lap, her hand still tingling from his touch as they once more fell into the silence brought about by mutual confusion.


	8. A Ripple in the Status Quo

****

**Chapter Eight: A Ripple in the Status Quo**

_Where a line is crossed._

Hermione sat on her sofa, her never ending laundry in front of her as she folded it and placed it in the basket sitting on the table. It was still strange for her to sit there and watch Lucius sitting on the rug trying to teach Elias to play Wizard’s Chess, but with every visit, with every week that passed she became more and more at ease with the scene. She was amazed at his patience given that Elias was more interested in having the pieces battle it out than actually learning to play the game. Lucius took it all in stride, steering Elias’s focus back onto the game when he drifted too far off.

It was a scene that had become all too familiar. Lucius visited for a little while almost every night. He would play with Elias and had began participating in the bedtime routine on a regular basis. Sometimes he would even stay a little later and talk with her. She enjoyed that, it made her feel a lot less lonely. Sure, she had her friends but they only visited on occasion now that they were grown and had lives of their own. She could chat on the phone with Jessa but talking about men and sex didn’t ease her loneliness any, it only made it worse because she was painfully aware that she had no man, and she had no sex but she was finally accepting the fact that she was attracted to Lucius. She didn’t like it but it was there and there wasn’t a damn thing that could be done for it.

She withdrew her wand and moved the basket to her bedroom with a simple spell and moved on to sorting her mail. A pile of unopened letters sat beside a basket with several owl posts all waiting for her attention. She discarded the junk mail and looked over her bills, setting them aside to pay later. She found a letter from Luna, a message from Harry telling her he would be coming to spend the day with Elias on Saturday and her Gringott’s statement. She hated to open it and see the proof of a life lived paycheck to paycheck. She nearly fell off of the sofa when she saw the total of her balance. It was more than she made in two years time at the bookshop, there had to have been and error. She scanned down and saw the transaction log. There it was in black and white.

**Transfer of funds from Lucius Malfoy in the amount of 100,000 galleons.**

“Lucius!” She nearly growled his name as indignation rose within her. He looked up from the floor and saw what she was holding in her hand and groaned inwardly. 

“Elias, why don’t you play without me for a bit, I’m going to go talk to your mother.” Lucius said as he pushed himself up off the floor and followed Hermione out the back door and onto the porch. The air was crisp but charged with the incoming storm. He could see her eyes flashing and her cheeks flushing in the soft evening light. She was rather beautiful when she was angry though he doubted she would be very receptive to that sentiment.

“How dare you!” She shook the statement in his face, clutching it tightly in her fist. 

“What did I do that was so wrong?” he asked, taking the statement and looking over it. He could see nothing amiss.

“You put money into my vault at Gringotts!” She shouted.

“So? You need money to take care of Elias and I have plenty.” He shrugged nonchalantly and it made her anger grow. 

“I don’t need THAT much money to take care of him, Lucius! You put a small fortune into my vault, what were you thinking?” She was grinding her teeth, her jaw clenched tight in frustration.

“I was thinking that I wasn’t here for nearly five years to help you and I wanted to make up for it! Why are you so angry? Elias is entitled to that money, he may not have my name…yet…but he is still a Malfoy and deserves his share of the Malfoy money!” Lucius argued.

“We are NOT for sale! You can’t buy us, Lucius. You can’t pay your way out of the guilt you feel.” She snapped.

“I wasn’t trying to buy anything! I simply wanted to help out with the cost of caring for my son and you have to get self-righteous. You don’t have to do it all alone anymore! You don’t have to settle for this life, I can ease your burden and help you have a better life for you and for Elias.” Why was she making it so difficult? Why did she have to make it seem like he had some sort of nefarious plan when depositing the money.  
When he looked into her eyes he could see the hurt reflected back at him. He didn’t mean it as an insult, he wanted to help her, to help his son.

“There is nothing wrong with how we live, Lucius. We have everything we need and that is enough.” She said.

“But what about the things you want? What about vacations and extras? What about peace of mind knowing that that you won’t be struggling to make ends meet? Does that count for nothing?” He walked to the edge of the porch and stared out into the night, watching the lightning as it cast the sky in varying hues of violet. He wished that just once, he could do something good for someone and have them believe that he had no other, darker purpose for doing it. “Why is it that every time I try to do something nice it backfires on me?”

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful.” She sighed, realizing that she sounded like a harpy. She could admit that she reacted before she thought about it but there were times when she felt so out of control since Lucius had entered their lives that she couldn’t help but be defensive. She stepped closer and laid her hand on his shoulder, wincing when he turned around and she could see the disappointment and pain in his expression. “I am trying to raise Elias not to value money above all things. I want him to understand that ultimately all that matters is that you have what you need. More than that is fine but not necessary. I don’t want him to define himself by money, or by his name…when that changes.”

“That is unrealistic, Hermione. You can’t teach a child not to put value on money when everything in this world requires it. You can teach him not to value the material things in life, but not money. Money, by its very nature equals value. How he defines himself is something only _he_ can determine. One thing that you can not help is how others will define him. He _is_ a Malfoy and people will define him by the fact that he is rich and probably more so because he is a half-blood, the first ever in this family. Some things are just out of your control no matter how much you wish it were different.” He leaned back against the post and stared at her as she processed his words.

“But he isn’t wealthy, you are.” She definitely did not like it that his words rang true. She liked to believe that she would be able to protect Elias from everything potentially harmful in his life, that by teaching him the right things he would never be placed into a position where he could be hurt. But deep down she knew that wasn’t the case, Lucius was right and she hated it.

“But he is, Hermione. As my son he will inherit a very large portion of my estate, and I have already established a trust fund for him through my solicitor and changed my will. Don’t worry, neither will be made public knowledge, but it is done. Elias is a very wealthy young man already.” He said.

“You did all this without asking me first? Did you not think that I should know about this? I am his mother, damn it! Everything that concerns Elias concerns me!” She stamped her foot and then reddened with embarrassment when she realized what she had just done. Lucius had a way of making her act in ways that weren’t typical for her.

“I didn’t think you would be interested in all the financial and legal details! I wasn’t trying to sneak around behind your back or anything!” He said defensively. 

“How could you believe that I wouldn’t want to know something like this? What if something happened to you tomorrow, how would I know that you had made provisions for Elias if you didn’t tell me?” She looked so…fiery with her hands propped on her hips glaring at him the way she was. How could he possibly be thinking something like that in such a moment?

“My solicitor would have contacted you and the truth is the women in my circles don’t care about such things, they don’t want to hear about them and they don’t want to try and wrap their pretty little heads around something that their husbands can handle just fine. It is why wealthy widows have estate managers, to manage the estate and ensure that all runs smoothly.” He shrugged; a frequent gesture of his that she found both endearing and annoying.

“Well I am not one of the women in your circle. I understand finance and I am pretty certain I can follow along with the legal stuff too, if not I am excellent at research and I will figure it out. I insist on being involved in financial decisions regarding Elias, Lucius, no ands ifs or buts about it.” She said insistently. She saw his lips tighten and his eyes narrow just before his hand shot out and his fingers clasped her chin, tilting her face up. 

“Why are you so damned stubborn?” He said through clenched teeth as he searched her eyes for….he didn’t know, something, some sign that she didn’t hate him, that maybe she thought of him too when he wasn’t there with Elias, that he would be accepted along with his gifts. All he saw was surprise, perhaps a modicum of fear just before he captured her lips with his in a slightly rough, claiming kiss. He hadn’t kissed her that night on the common room sofa, he hadn’t even touched her beyond what was necessary to reach the oblivion he sought. That night he doubted he would have noticed how soft her lips were, how pliant as his moved against them. Would he have detected how sweet her mouth tasted when he slipped his tongue inside? Or the way she whimpered into his kiss, her hands clenching and un-clenching in front of her as she tried to figure out what to do with them? 

He pulled away slowly, reluctantly releasing the sweet decadence of her mouth and meeting her smoky gaze head on. They were both breathing heavily and when the lightening struck again he could see how her lips still glistened from his kiss. He stroked over them with his thumb, longing to taste them again but restraining himself. Small, delicate fingers wrapped around his wrist and pulled his hand away from her chin. She brought her fingertips to her lips as she took a single step backwards, the shock on her face confusing him. Was she shocked that he had kissed her like that or appalled? She didn’t yell at him, she simply stepped around him and went back into the house leaving him on the porch to wallow in his confusion.

****

**~@~**

The angry storm raging outside suited Lucius’s mood. It was multifaceted, just like his emotions at the moment. He was angry, aroused, bristling and restless all at the same time. It was a lot for a man like him to handle feeling all at once. Once, in another life, not all that long ago the only thing he had been able to feel was rage. Hatred oozed from his pores so thickly that it was tangible to everyone around him. Then he lost it all and went…numb. Emotion hurt, it burned. Especially when it was all jumbled, confused and so very unexpected.

He sat all alone in the back parlor, the one used by the family only, in his favored leather chair turned towards the windows. On the table beside him where his fingers drummed slowly sat a decanter of hundred year old scotch, a half empty glass and a small scattered stack of photographs taken over the last few weeks of Elias, of him and Elias, of Elias and Hermione. Photos of the strange little _family_ he found himself enjoying more and more with every passing day. 

He had kissed her and possibly broken those tenuous chains of trust and acceptance that had been forged between them. She never spoke another word to him. When he walked into the house she was standing in the kitchen, her hands braced on the countertop as she softly ordered Elias to get ready for bed. He hadn’t wanted to press her, not with Elias there. Had he forced his attentions on her again? He distinctly recalled her lips moving timidly beneath his, the tentative touch of her tongue to his so he wasn’t convinced that she was appalled so much as perhaps…stunned, as he had been. 

He still didn’t know what made him do it. One moment he had been fighting back the old Lucius, the man who would defend himself with sharp words, words chosen to strike his opponent to the quick and would come effortlessly to his tongue with nary a thought. He had wanted to shake her and tell her she was an ungrateful witch who was damned lucky he even showed an interest in the by product of a moment he barely recalled the details of. But he and she would both know it for a lie because he was so damned grateful for every moment spent with Elias. Elias was healing the cracks in his heart and soul better than any healing potion ever could.

But when the lightening flashed and held for just a few moments, illuminating her face he had seen the fire in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks, the steady rise and fall of her chest, all of it begging him to come closer, making every cell in his body stand up and scream ‘TOUCH HER!’ And he did. But should he have ignored that voice? Should have he left well enough alone?

“Why are you sitting here in the dark?” An odd strangled laugh escaped him at the sound of the familiar voice of his son. Draco had barely spoken to him in a month. Even the niceties had been ignored as his oldest child processed the blow he had been dealt. How strange that in a moment when he was feeling lowest, Draco would choose to speak to him again.

“Thinking.” Lucius reached for his glass and took a sip. “Drinking.” He heard Draco come up behind him and the oil lamp beside him lit up, causing him to squint against the glare. From the corner of his eye he watched Draco gather up the stack of photographs and rifle through them. He knew what he would see. A close up of Elias’s face, his mouth ringed with chocolate ice-cream grinning at the camera from a stone wall. Elias waving from a glossy black carousel pony. Hermione and Elias on a wooden swing in her back garden, one of himself holding onto Elias while he walked beside a Clydesdale pony and his favorite, one he hadn’t known had been taken, of him, leaning against the wooden headboard of Elias’s small, single bed, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle while Elias snuggled into him wearing a pair of plaid pajamas. A large book about strange creatures called Star Bellied Sneeches open in front of them. (He was convinced that the story was Hermione’s doings, meant to be a lesson of some sort.)

“So this is him? This is…”

“Elias, his name is Elias and yes, that is your little brother.” Lucius said, turning his head slightly to watch Draco’s expression as he looked them over. “He looks like you.”

“I can see the resemblance.” Draco said, surprising himself with the grin that tugged his lips. He had spent weeks agonizing over what his father had done and then he thought about the night his father went to prison. He had been all alone in their big old drafty house and had found himself seeking out the company of others, ending up at a pub in London and waking up in the bed of a muggle woman whose name he hadn’t bothered learning before he darted out as soon as he found his clothes. Then he understood. He hadn’t slept with that woman because he was…aroused or because he had any great feeling for her, he just wanted to forget, to get lost in a moment when the problems in his life no longer existed and oblivion could be found in the body of another. “He has certainly wiggled into your heart, hasn’t he?” Draco said, setting the photos gently on the table and accioing a chair from across the room to join his father in watching the storm.

“It doesn’t take long to fall for his charm.” Lucius said, his grin that of a proud father. “It is…it makes me wonder at the things I missed out on with you by following the ‘society’ standards of rearing children. He is so…precocious. Everything is interesting and everything is a question. There are nights I come home barely able to speak from answering all of his questions.”

“I don’t think my tutors would have allowed me to be so willful. My knuckles were rapped often enough for being sarcastic.” He said, fascinated by his father’s obvious affection for the little boy and his regret at having missed out on much of Draco’s youth. 

“I am sorry for that, I would like to say that had I known I’d have put a stop to it but I was a different man then.” He said softly. “If it makes a difference, I would go back and change it if I could.”

“It does make a difference.” Draco was touched more than he could say. “I want you to know that I understand. I don’t approve, but I do understand.” He didn’t need to elaborate, his father knew what he spoke of. 

“Thank you, Draco, that means so much to me. I hope this means you have decided to meet your brother at some point. He is very important to me.” Lucius said, refilling his glass and taking another drink before reclining back into his chair and watching the lightening show in the distance. 

“Yes. I always wanted a sibling…not necessarily this way, but it is what it is. Mixed blessings.” He said. “At first I was jealous, but then I would watch you come home smiling and you have been so dedicated to spending quality time with him that I became impressed and grateful to see that you could be that sort of father under the right conditions. I am glad he is so important to you.” Draco glanced over to the top photo on the stack, of Hermione clutching Elias in her arms and smiling as they would swing towards the camera, her long chocolate curls trailing behind her as she laughed and smiled. “So….Granger is looking kind of pretty these days.”

Draco watched his father’s eyes dart nervously and heard his soft grunt. ‘So it was like that was it?’ He shouldn’t have been too surprised he supposed. His father was a relatively young wizard and he spent hours with the witch every week. And she _had_ gotten rather pretty, the awkwardness of her youth had faded and she had softened with motherhood. There was something in her eyes, in her smile that he could see in the photographs that was different than before, she had lost that hard edge and her walls were less like solid brick and more like…thick hedges, not easily penetrable but penetrable none the less. He waited for that kick to the stomach feeling to come but it never did. He supposed that there were worse things, like some gold digging pure blood only after the Malfoy name and fortune who couldn’t give a nifler’s ass about his father. It seemed that he could join his father in the ‘changed man’ club.

“Is she single?” Draco queried, testing his father’s responses. As he suspected Lucius tensed in the chair, his fingers biting into the glass in his hand.

“She is.” Lucius said tightly.

“Maybe I should pop round and ask her to dinner, you could watch Elias…”

“Draco, I would seriously advise against it.” Lucius nearly growled, slamming his glass onto the table before it shattered in his hands.

“Does she feel the same?” Draco chuckled, sitting back and crossing his legs.

“What are you, my therapist?” Lucius frowned. “Sometimes I think she does, others she acts like she is terrified of me.” He sighed. “I am not cut out for this. Things are so different from when I was a young man. The things that seem normal to me shock her and of course I end up with Elias asking me a million questions the entire time.”

‘Like what?” Draco was curious about his little brother and just how annoying he could be to their father, it would probably be fun to watch.

“Why can’t mummy put her own coat on? Why can’t mummy order her own food? Why can’t she open her own doors? It goes on and on and she gets so tetchy about me paying for things all the time. She works so hard and literally lives paycheck to paycheck yet she bit my head off for daring to put a little money in her account. I don’t understand women, Draco. How do you manage in these crazy times?” Lucius said wearily into his glass.

“I’m still looking for a woman who is right for me, as you know. Until then I enjoy spending time with all the wrong ones.” He laughed. “Somehow I don’t think that is quite your style is it?”

“Oh, when I was a young man and single I sowed my wild oats a plenty.” Lucius chuckled. “It grew tiresome after a while though, the women were all the same, just different names. Then I married your mother and we spent years trying for you. Then HE came into our life and … well, we know that ended.”

“It could be different now, you know? Hermione isn’t the ‘wild’ sort of girl. She never was, never dated or went through a throng of boyfriends in school. Always had her nose stuck in a book, or was with her misfit friends.” Draco laughed. 

“She has more books in her house than a library so I don’t think she does more than that now, of course she _does_ work in a bookshop. She still spends most of her time with Potter but has this friend…Jessa…that she works with who is interesting. The woman looks like she would eat a man alive and pick her teeth with his bones. Sexy as sin but…”

“She lacks that softness you want in your woman?” Draco queried.

“Something like that.” Lucius said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

“You already have a child together, who knows, perhaps Elias was a way of binding you together until you could be together…did you ever think about that?” He asked.

“You went and grew up on me.” Lucius smirked. “I feared you would never forgive me for Elias, I didn’t expect you take my interest in Hermione so well.”

“It took me some time to really think about it, to think about my own actions in the past before I realized what had happened, what you were trying to explain if I hadn’t been so hotheaded. As for Granger…she never was a bad bird. You shouldn’t live out your life lonely because I miss my mother and Elias shouldn’t be without his father.”

“I miss her too, you know. Your mother…no one will ever replace her but I have to let her go at some point.” Lucius said quietly. “You have impressed me with your maturity, Draco.”

“Finally!” He laughed, relaxing back into his chair as if he had just run a lifelong race. “So…now what?” Draco asked, smiling back at his father.

“Drink?” Lucius accio’d a second glass and filled it before passing it to Draco. “To difficult women.” He raised his glass and Draco touched the rim of his glass to it. 

“May they keep you young.” With that the eldest Malfoys sat watching the storm and talking well into the night.

__

_~@~_

Hermione sat in the center of her bed, her knees drawn up beneath the quilt with her arms wrapped around them. She jumped with every loud, shaking boom of thunder then settled with the ensuing quiet of a house with a sleeping child. She was terribly lonely and somewhat afraid, she hated thunderstorms. She could call Harry but he already had a lot on his plate now that the news of he and Ginny’s little oops had pushed up their wedding date. Ron would be too complicated and George would look at it as a chance to scare the life out of her, not to mention the fact that he was married and Angelina might not appreciate him spending the night with another woman.

There was always Lucius…but THAT would be more than complicated. He kissed her. He didn’t just kiss her he KISSED her, full on lips and tongue…it had been like getting an oral injection of pure heat, so intense that she was still feeling it. She hadn’t expected it, not just the kiss but the power of it. She felt so awkward, so out of place and so utterly hypnotized by those smooth, soft lips moving over hers that she hadn’t been able to do anything but walk away in silence and try to find a way to still her pounding heart. No doubt he thought her insane, inexperienced and a complete moron when it came to kissing. 

It wasn’t her fault. She had kissed exactly four people in her life if she counted him. Her first kiss with Krum had been awkward and his tongue was slimy and made her gag a little. She kissed a boy from Ravenclaw, Joseph, and that had been ok, a bit dry and his lips were tight and hard. Kisses with Ron had been nice, awkward in a good way but they never went very far because it was always in his mind that another man’s child grew inside her. Lucius hadn’t kissed her the night Elias was conceived, it never got more intimate than holding her thighs apart while he moved between them. 

She wasn’t an emotional retard by any stretch, she understood sexual desire, she understood sexual release and was quite capable of achieving that state of bliss on her own. So she understood clearly what her reaction to him was and it terrified her. He was the one man with intimate knowledge of her body and the experience had been lackluster for the both of them despite having the most brilliant result. What would it be like to be with him under more normal circumstances? To have him kiss her again like he did on the porch and touch her? To actually have some cognizance of what was happening, to _feel_ what was happening. Tingles raced through her body that had nothing to do with the chilled winds blowing outside. She laid back against the pillows, her hand idly stroking her stomach where her shirt had ridden up as her head danced with thoughts of a man who should have been forbidden.


	9. The Candyland Conspiracy

****

**Chapter Nine: The Candyland Conspiracy **

_The pressure and other’s opinions carry their weight._

“I’m afraid I still don’t quite understand why I have to go back. What if I choose _not_ to?” Lucius said frowning as he stared at the brightly colored game board set out on Hermione’s kitchen table. His piece, a green plastic gingerbread man, was sitting only four squares from the appealing candy cottage. He wondered if Elias knew the tale of Hansel and Gretel and the evil witch who lived in the edible house? Now why, just because he pulled the card from the deck, did he have to go all the way back to the Lollipop Forrest?

“Those is the rules.” Elias shrugged, chewing on the soft pretzel his mother had given him as a snack.

“Those _are_ the rules, but they make no sense to me. Why should I go back when I am winning? I choose not to go back.” Lucius said stubbornly. He heard Hermione sigh from her chair, her fingers drumming on the tabletop.

“You can’t just change the rules, Lucius. You pulled the card so now you have to take your piece back to Lollipop Forrest.” She was getting a headache, her day had already been crap and she really didn’t relish spending the remainder of the evening watching Elias and Lucius argue over a game of Candyland.

“This game makes no sense! Why send a person to the finish line only to shoot them backwards when they are about to cross it?” Lucius folded his arms and continued to frown at the befuddling game.

“It isn’t a conspiracy, the cards are randomly drawn. Elias loves this game and it helps him learn his colors and helps him with Maths.” Hermione stressed the educational value of the game.

“Where did it come from? The rules are ridiculous.” Lucius scoffed.

“It originated in the U.S., Lucius, and the rules aren’t ridiculous, they are simple rules for children. I think that we should put this away for another night, it is getting late and Elias needs to get to bed.” She said, thinking it was one of those situations that was better walked away from.

“Are you a whore’s loser, Loo-she-us?” Elias’s little brow furrowed just like his father’s as he scrambled from his chair. Hermione’s lips twitched slightly before she corrected him.

“Sore loser and no, he just doesn’t understand the muggle rules. Your PJs are on your bed go put them on.” She said softly.

“Tonight is your night for a story, Loo-she-us! I got a new book…The Lorax!” Elias said excitedly before he darted out of the room in a blur of blond curls and bright colors.

“Is it another of those blasted rhyming books?” Lucius asked, staring at the empty doorway their son had just vacated.

“Yes, he is working his way through the Dr. Seuss collection.” She stood and began putting the game away.

“I am going to purchase some proper stories for him. The Brothers Grimm, Knights of the Round Table, Stories of Merlin and other great wizards. Those crazed books he reads make my head ache.” He said, helping her gather the pieces and dump them into the box. 

“They are annoying, yes, but they are easy for a small child to read with the short rhyming words. Stories for fun are wonderful too, but education has to be considered as well given that Elias can not attend a muggle primary school, he would announce his heritage in an instant and the first time someone made him upset he would turn them into a toad.” Hermione chuckled at the mental image of Elias standing stubbornly with his arms crossed daring the other children to come near him. No, her son had too much of her temper and was definitely too much of a Malfoy to take that risk.

“We could send him to one of the wizarding preparatory schools.” Lucius suggested, taking the box from her and placing it back on the top shelf of the cupboard.

“No, I’m not ready for him to be away from me.” She could feel her chest constrict at the thought of being without Elias.

“That is fine, Hermione, it was only a suggestion. He isn’t yet five so nothing has to be determined for another year. Come summer you and I can begin interviewing private tutors to educate Elias in preparation for Hogwarts…I assume you wish him to attend Hogwarts?” Lucius queried as he closed the door and faced her.

“Yes, that is my preference…but, Lucius, the expense of a private tutor…”

“Is trivial.” He saw her open her mouth in preparation of protesting and he raised his hand quickly to cut her off. “Don’t. Just…don’t. Do not try to shut me out or refuse. Our son’s education is important and I am in a position to ensure that he has the best that my money can buy. I won’t argue on this.”

“Loo-she-us, I’m ready!” Elias called from his bedroom. Hermione simply nodded her head in agreement, he was right, she wouldn’t let her pride keep Elias from having the finest education the Malfoy money could provide.

“I’m going to go read some abominable book to our son. Why don’t you sit down and relax a little?” He lifted his hand, almost as though he were going to touch her before thinking better of it and letting his hand drop back to his side and leaving the room. She watched him go, a little disappointed that he hadn’t gone ahead and touched her. She turned off the kitchen light and settled onto the sofa, propping her feet onto the coffee table and letting her head fall back against the cushions.

The kiss had not been mentioned a single time in the week since it happened. Did he regret it and just wish to forget that it had ever happened? She couldn’t really blame him, no doubt he had kissed more than his fair share of beautiful, _skilled_ women. How was she, young, plain and practically a virgin, going to compete with that? She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, tried to let her over stressed day go and find some peace. She sat there for an eternity it seemed, working extra hard at thinking of nothing. In fact, she was just about to doze off when she heard Lucius come back. She opened her eyes and saw him standing there staring at the basket of folded laundry in the chair then letting his eyes drift to the sofa.

She patted the cushion beside her and he sat rigidly next to her, keeping a safe distance away lest he be tempted. He sat with his back straight and his hands resting lightly on his knees, his ever present cane leaning against the sofa.

“Elias is asleep?” She asked tiredly. 

“He is…Hermione, let me provide you with a house-elf, you are always doing laundry or cleaning this house or running after Elias, you are exhausted.” He wanted to reach out and heal the dark circles beneath her eyes but curled his fingers into his palm instead.

“No, I am a mother, it is an exhausting job but I wouldn’t trade it. And no thank you, Lucius, I don’t want a house-elf, I can do my own laundry and clean my own house, women do it all the time.” She said softly. 

“You don’t have to work so hard. I can make it easier for you if you let me.” He knew she wouldn’t accept his offer but oh how he wished that she would.

“You have always been able to make everything easier just by having money, haven’t you?” She asked quietly, without judgment but with an edge of … was it pity he detected? “I’m fine, sure I am tired and the laundry is never done and the house is never clean for long but it is….satisfying.” She smiled at him then, realizing that he would never quite understand.

“You just seem so down today, more tired than usual. You were off today so I will assume you overworked yourself at home.” He wasn’t great at the idle chitchat, especially when they were using it to dance around issues.

“No, not really, today it was more mental exhaustion than physical that has me down. We spent this afternoon with the Weasleys and Harry to celebrate Ron’s acceptance into the Master Auror academy in Romania.” She said, closing her eyes and sighing as the tension settled at the base of her skull.

“Celebrations are supposed to be fun and restful.” He said. “You don’t look rested and you don’t appear to have had much in the way of fun.”

“Got it in one.” She said. “My relationship with the Weasleys is complicated now. Ron and I…well, we tried, you know? He just couldn’t do it, couldn’t get over that Elias looked so much like you. I don’t hold it against him at all, he tried, he really did, his heart just wasn’t there. Unfortunately for me his mother DOES hold it against me. She never forgave me for betraying Ron.”

“I don’t understand, Elias calls her Nana and she cares for him and obviously loves him.” Lucius said, his brow furrowed as she explained the complications of her relationship with Molly.

“That is the beautiful thing about Molly. She can be harsh and judgmental at times and the woman can hold a grudge like nobody’s business, but when there is a child…a child who needs love and care, she can separate what she might feel for the parents and just give her love unconditionally to that child. She isn’t a bad person, she is just…protective.” Hermione was mucking up her explanation but him being so close to her was affecting her ability to think straight. “You know what, it’s nothing important, really.”

“I don’t believe that. Your friends, they said something to you that is bothering you.” Lucius observed, knowing he was right when her shoulders slumped forward and she sighed. “Tell me.”

“No one approves of my choice to allow you into our lives, to allow you to be a part of Elias’s life. Only Harry and Ginny support me, though they don’t understand. They try to keep it to themselves but little things show through that they don’t realize.” She rolled her shoulders and tried not to look at him. 

“What little things?” He pressed, breathing in the sweet, citrus scent of her as inconspicuously as possible.

“Like calling you the ‘Seed Donor’, sneering when Elias talks about you, asking me what I was thinking allowing you to take Elias and I out all the time. They don’t mean to be that way, I know that, just as I know that they don’t want to hurt me…but it does.” She said quietly.

“It will take time for them to come around I suppose. But they will, they have no other choice in the matter. Like it or not I _am_ Elias’s father and I am not going anywhere.” He leaned back on the sofa, mimicking her position and propping his feet on the coffee table. He folded his hands over his stomach and stared at their feet side by side. His were much larger and shod in shiny dragonhide loafers while her tiny feet were bare with soft pink color on her toenails and a tiny silver ring around one toe.

“I hope you are right. I don’t want them making Elias uncomfortable when we tell him. I don’t want him to ever feel like he has to choose.” Her voice trembled slightly, her stomach fluttering as if it caged a thousand butterflies.

“There are times when I think I will never overcome my past. It is almost like that blasted game earlier, I get close to that which I seek and then suddenly I find myself going backwards and starting over.” He shook his head and tried not to let that feeling of helplessness and defeat overcome him. People’s memories were long and they were loathe to give him a second chance. Perhaps some bridges couldn’t be rebuilt once they were burned.

“Lucius, are you telling me your life is like a game of Candyland?” Hermione asked, laughter edging her voice. 

“I suppose so. My life has been one strategy after another that has been thwarted by one random draw of the cards. Though I have to admit, looking back, that I had it coming. I deserved everything I got.” He stared into the fire as the amusement that had lit his face momentarily drifted away.

“Why did you kiss me?” She asked suddenly in a soft, quiet tone that whispered over him like a caress. He swallowed hard and turned his head towards her. Her face was turned towards him, her head still resting on the back of the sofa. Golden firelight danced over her skin and reflected in her eyes. It was obvious by the nervous way she bit her bottom lip that she hadn’t meant to bring it up, but apparently it had weighed on her as heavily as it had on him.

“Because I could not stop myself.” He answered her honestly.

“It was just an impulse then? A way to silence me?” She felt her stomach drop and her throat thicken with emotion. 

“It was an impulse, yes. I surely had not planned it but it was by no means meant to be a weapon or a muzzle. I am sorry if I offended you, Hermione, it was not my intention.” He said carefully, watching her reactions. Her eyes widened slightly and then she cast her gaze away from his.

“I wasn’t offended…I was surprised… but not offended.” She said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “What does that mean?”

“What would you like for it to mean?” He dared not hope that she was giving him an opening to pursue a relationship with her. He still had misgivings about his attraction to her. She was so very young, half his age in fact. Should he become romantically involved with her it would cause an even bigger scandal than the news of Elias’s parentage. It would be ground that required careful treading, one misstep could ruin the foundation they had built and no matter what he would not have Elias hurt. It would be more than just a challenge. Was he up to it?

“I don’t know…I would pose to you the same question.” She felt his touch on her cheek encouraging her to lift her gaze to his.

“I confess an admiration for you, an attraction both physical and mental. I enjoy being here not just for Elias, but for your company as well.” His voice was low and the rough timber of it sent shivers down her spine. 

“I-I am attracted to you t-too.” The constant somersaulting of her stomach was making her nauseated. Her hands trembled as her nerves raged out of control. Lucius reached out and took her hand in his, wrapping his long fingers around hers. He stroked his thumb over the top of her hand, wondering if he had ever felt anything as soft as her skin.

“Then we have a beginning.” He said softly. 

“A beginning… we are…you and I?” She watched his fingers stroke over her hands and swore she could feel his touch all over her.

“Shhh… don’t talk it to death, Hermione. If we do we will talk ourselves out of it and I think…well, I think that would be a shame. Just let it happen.” He said softly, pulling her hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to the center of her palm and then to the throbbing pulse at her wrist.

“We have to be careful in front of Elias.” She actually whimpered as he continued to kiss her hand softly, pressing his lips to each knuckle.

“I don’t want to hurt our son, Hermione, but he will notice the change, you know he will.” He said against her skin.

“You make my head swim.” She said, her eyes smoky and her lids at half mast.

“Good.” He smirked, trailing a little further up her arm with his lips. “I should go before you change your mind on me.” He said with one last kiss to her hand. He stroked her cheek gently with the backs of his fingers touched by the way she pressed into his touch and closed her eyes. “I’ll be back tomorrow and everything will be different.”

“This is a good thing…right?”

“No, you will not talk yourself out of this. Both of us have our issues to overcome in order for this to work but you will not throw in before we have even begun.” He touched her lips gently with his fingertips and then stood. “Goodnight, Hermione.” He said before stepping to the fireplace and activating the floo. He was gone before she could say a word, returning to his home in a swirl of green.

“Did I just imagine that?” She said suddenly to herself. She closed her hand into a fist, trying to trap the lingering sensation of his lips on her skin. Surely she hadn’t just ‘started’ something with Lucius Malfoy.


	10. A Happy Witch

****

**Chapter Ten: A Happy Witch**

_Where Lucius begins to woo._

Hermione could only come up with one word to describe herself as she moved through the kitchen making dinner. She was excited. She had been walking around all day with a giddy smile on her face and a tingling, heated sensation pumping through her veins. Jessa immediately assumed she had gotten some and refused to believe her when she insisted that sex had nothing to do with it. Though maybe she shouldn’t say that sex had _nothing_ to do with it, surely it had _something_ to do with why Lucius had decided to make a pass. She giggled a little and then frowned because she had been doing it off and on all day and she wasn’t normally a giggler. But then again she wasn’t normally the object of a very handsome man’s attentions either. It felt good, worthy of something as infantile as giggling.

She had shocked the hell out of Harry when she came home singing to herself and carrying a vase of roses that had been delivered to her at work. He thought perhaps she had gotten another promotion, he hadn’t been prepared for her to tell him that Lucius Malfoy _liked_ her, enough to send her rare sterling roses for no reason. Oh the look on his face. She still couldn’t help laughing as she recalled the fish out of water, gap mouthed expression on his face when she told him. Shock was probably putting it mildly. Harry was beyond shocked and more than a little concerned but not even his pessimism regarding Lucius couldn’t ruin her happy mood. She had simply smiled, assured him that she was a big girl capable of making her own decisions and fully aware of the risk she took getting involved with a man as worldly as Lucius. 

She had changed out of her work clothes into a pair of worn, comfortable jeans and fitted long sleeved tee the same shade of lavender as the roses that now sat on her kitchen counter, reminding her that someone thought she was special and pretty. Elias was playing contentedly in the lounge while she whipped up a batch of chicken tacos. The heavy beat of a reggae pop tune came drifting from her radio and she reached out to turn it up, letting the music move her.

With the music turned up she didn’t hear Lucius step through the fireplace. He took a deep breath, inhaling the spicy scent of food cooking. Elias jumped up from the floor and immediately threw his arms around Lucius’s legs. Lucius reached out and patted his curly head awkwardly, not quite used to the affection he received from the little boy, not quite certain that he deserved it.

“I brought you something.” Lucius said, reaching out to show Elias the blue gift bag dangling from his fingertips.

“Ooooo….a present!” Elias said giddily as he snatched the bag into his little hand and opened it wide. “A train!” He had dozens but that didn’t matter, he pulled the brightly colored wooden train from the bag as though he had never seen one before. “Thank you, Loo-she-us!” His grin tugged at Lucius’s heart as he dropped back to the rug and began to play with his new toy.

“You are welcome, Elias. Where is your mother?” Lucius asked.

“Kitchen.” He replied distractedly as he pushed the little train around in a circle on the rug. Lucius followed the scent of food and the sound of music down the little hall to her kitchen. He stopped and smiled, leaning against the doorframe as he watched her. She was standing in front of the counter, a rather frightening looking knife in her hand chopping tomatoes. It was such a domestic thing, watching her prepare dinner, he did it often but it was never quite as entertaining as it was watching her in that moment. The song coming through the radio had a Caribbean flavor and with every sultry beat her hips rocked from side to side.

He was hypnotized by the slow, seductive sway of her body, the way she was able to almost become the music. Then he heard the soft, raspy sound of her voice as she sang along.

_“I want to give you some love…I want to give you some good, good loving.” _ She wasn’t a great singer by any stretch of the imagination. She was off key though enthusiastic in her delivery. _”Oh I, oh I, oh I ….Yeah I want to give you some good, good loving.”_

“Why are you shaking your bum like that, Mum?” Lucius hadn’t heard Elias approach and actually jolted at the child’s words. Hermione turned around suddenly and the moment her eyes met his her face flushed and she turned back around, her hands braced on the counter in front of her as she prayed that the floor would swallow her up.

“Lucius, I didn’t know you were here.” She said hoarsely, her face flaming. 

“Elias, why don’t you go wash up for supper.” Lucius said, laying his hand on the child’s shoulder and steering him down the hall towards the bathroom. Elias stared at Lucius curiously for a moment then darted off to do as he was told. 

Lucius made his way across the kitchen, coming to a stop right behind her. Her shoulders tensed and she held her breath as his scent wrapped around her. Why did he have to smell so good?

“I see that you received my gift. Do you like them?” He asked softly, inhaling the light fragrance of her curls.

“Yes…they are beautiful. Thank you.” She said, her voice cracking nervously.

“You looked lovely while you were dancing.” He whispered as he gathered her hair up in one hand and pulled it aside, baring her nape. His warm breath tickled the fine hairs there and she shivered. “Were you thinking of me when you were singing that song?”

She closed her eyes even tighter as humiliation washed over her. Not only had she been caught swinging her backside in the kitchen but she had been caught singing, no doubt horribly, as well. Could it get any worse?

“What are you doing?” Elias asked from the doorway. “Does Mummy have something in her hair?” Elias asked excitedly as he ran forward. “Is it a bug? Or a bogey?”

Lucius chuckled and stepped back, his fingertips stroking over her throat lightly in parting. Elias looked far too thrilled at the prospect of something disgusting in his mother’s hair.

“There is nothing in her hair, I was simply moving it out of the way because her hands were covered in tomatoes.” Lucius lied convincingly. “Did you wash your hands?”

“Yes, sir.” Elias said, obviously disappointed that there was nothing exciting to see. He climbed into his chair and stared at the two adults. Something wasn’t right, they were acting strangely and he didn’t understand. “Why were you staring at Mummy’s bum?”

Hermione’s knife clattered into the sink and Lucius tried to reign in his smile. Leave it to Elias, the child missed nothing and would not hesitate to call a body out on it. He supposed he could deny it but that would be lying and he _was_ trying to get away from the bad habits of his past. It seemed better to dance around it however, given Elias’s tender age.

“I was watching her dance. She is a lovely dancer don’t you think?” Lucius pulled out the chair he had come to think of as his and joined Elias at the table.

“I guess so…but she is a terrible singer.” Elias said as he waited patiently for dinner to be served. While their son chattered on and on Lucius watched Hermione. She was well aware of it too and her face flamed bright every time she turned around and caught him staring. The heat in his eyes was palpable, something she had never seen in another man’s eyes when he looked at her. It was exciting and somewhat frightening to see the change in him. She felt like…well she felt like almost like dinner when he trained that hungry gaze on her.

She tried not to react to it as she placed the food in the center of the table and proceeded to make Elias’s plate. Lucius, having never before eaten a taco required her help as well. He didn’t chatter at her about trains though, instead he gently rubbed her lower back as she stood beside him and assembled his tacos. When she sat down she felt the loss of his touch more than she would have liked. The entire situation was so surreal that she frequently wondered if it were just a dream. 

When dinner was over Elias had made a mess of himself and Lucius hadn’t fared much better with a salsa stain on his shirt and shredded cheese in his lap. Hermione beamed beneath his praise when he told her that dinner was wonderful and he couldn’t wait to have tacos again. If something so easy to make pleased him that much then she was golden. He played with Elias while she cleaned the kitchen then stood in the bathroom doorway while she wrestled their son in the bathtub. Then, for the first time, the two of them put him to bed together, reading the story _Fox In Socks_ and tucking him in.

Suddenly they were alone and Hermione had no idea how she was supposed to behave, what she was supposed to do. She settled onto the sofa and watched Lucius stoke the fire in the hearth. He pointed his wand at the stereo and the soft sound of the blues filled the room. She stiffened when he sat beside her, wondering what was expected. They weren’t teenagers so surely snogging like adolescents was out of the question, not that she would have minded that. She had only experienced a few, very few, of those heated moments in her young life. It hadn’t gone well with Ronald when they tried, he would touch her breasts and she would flinch because they were tender with her pregnancy or he would come in contact with her stomach and immediately withdraw, reminded that it was another man’s child that grew inside her. Lucius didn’t strike her as the type of man to do something so base as to make out on the sofa, but then again what did she know?

“Relax.” Lucius ordered softly as he put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back so that she rested against his side with his arm around her shoulder. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I’m not used to this…I don’t really know what to do.” She wanted to sink in to the warmth of his body and bask in the spicy scent of him. She felt awkward and out of place in the arms of a man, a mature man, yet she also felt excited and fidgety.

“Hermione, you don’t have to _do_ anything.” He fought the grin that threatened and began lightly stroking her arm with the tips of his fingers. “Just relax, talk to me, whatever happens or doesn’t happen between us will come naturally when the time is right.” He bent his head and pressed his lips close to her ear. “I’m not some randy young man with no control over himself, there is no rush, and some things are better savored slowly.”

She shivered and his smile spread. Her responsiveness boded well for him. He suspected that an untapped well of passion sat just below the surface and he couldn’t deny the smug delight that coursed through him at the thought of being the man to coax her body into the heights of passion. He continued to stroke her arm, relaxing against the back of the sofa and simply holding her as the fire crackled in the hearth and the music drifted softly around them.

“How was your day?” He asked as she began to relax into his hold. 

“It was alright, we were fairly busy this morning but slowed down this afternoon. I got to chat with Jessa for a bit.” He couldn’t see her cheeks redden and she was relieved not to have to confess to a tawdry yet informative conversation with her friend and co-worker about the male anatomy. “Then I came home and talked to Harry before I started dinner.”

“Did you mention the change in our situation to Potter?” He asked, curious as to how she would approach their budding relationship.

“Yes. He was curious about the armful of roses and my unusually cheerful mood.” She felt her eyes drooping as a warm languorous feeling washed over her, causing her to melt into the cradle of his body.

“_I_ made you unusually cheerful? That is a new one.” He chuckled softly. “Normally I make people frightened and nervous.” 

“Once upon a time you did make me feel that way…but not now, not the man you are now.” She sighed when his fingertips stroked the side of her neck and let her head rest against his shoulder.

“How did he take it?” His voice was hoarse with emotion. Her words were so simple but they stuck deeply and he was touched. 

“About as well as you might expect. But he knows that he can’t tell me who can and can not be in my life so he let it drop. I don’t expect it to be the last I hear on the subject though, especially when the word spreads.” She was being mesmerized by his touch, so gentle and so innocent yet it fired her blood like nothing ever had before. “Have you spoken to Draco?”

“Yes. He has forgiven me and wants to meet his brother but will wait for us to determine when the time is right.” Lucius turned his head slightly and pressed his lips to the top of her head. He was relaxed and comfortable in her little house with her in his arms and it was a source of fascination for him. Everything with her was a new experience for him, from the day to day interaction with their son to the casual courting just beginning between the two of them. He was finding himself completely wrapped up in the simple domesticity of being with her.

“And did you mention us?” She asked, both curious and afraid of how Draco might react to her. No doubt he believed her some sort of home wrecker because of what happened that night so long ago.

“Yes, I did.” Lucius’s grin lifted the corners of his mouth at the memory of his conversation with Draco. “He was…encouraging.” The laughter was there in his voice and she picked up on it, turning her head to look at him.

“Encouraging?” She queried, watching the way his eyes twinkled in amusement. “I see…he approves of you dallying with a younger witch.” She rolled her eyes. “Men.”

“At least he no longer hates me…or you. You know, when I first told him about that night his first concern was for you.” Lucius said softly.

“For me?” She blinked in surprise.

“I told him of my fear that I had forced you, before he ever reacted to the rest of the information he wanted reassurance that I had not hurt you.” Lucius saw her face soften and his lips itched to press against hers. “He will not be a problem for us nor will he be an issue for Elias. He is rather curious about his little brother and eager to meet him.”

“Perhaps we should wait until Elias knows that you are his father. He will already have to alter his perception of you; it would be less confusing for him if he doesn’t have to do the same with Draco. This way he can be introduced as his brother with no confusion. If that is alright with you.” She didn’t want to seem as if she were completely controlling the entire situation. She was trying to let go, to let Lucius in but it wasn’t easy. She still couldn’t fight the urge to wrap herself around her baby and hide him away, keep him all to herself, but at least she recognized it and was trying to overcome it.

“That sounds reasonable. I think that we are making a lot of progress towards being able to tell Elias that I am his father.” He couldn’t wait for that day to come. The child was already in his heart and he longed for the day when he would hear Elias call him “Father”. 

“I agree, he adores you. When you aren’t hear he talks about you constantly. You have bonded with him surprisingly fast.” Hermione smiled softly. “I never realized how many of your little quirks he had until you began spending time with us. It’s amazing to me that you weren’t in his life yet he tilts his head exactly the same as you, holds his pencil the same and he even has the same sadistic sense of humor. I wonder if you talked as much as he does when you were small.”

“Not likely, my parents wouldn’t have tolerated it.” He had raised Draco the same way he himself had been raised. Children should be seen and not heard. He had been raised by his governess, same as Draco, brought out on occasion long enough for company to ooo and ahh over and then sent straight back to the nursery. He couldn’t imagine Elias living that way. The thought of his spirit being broken and restrained made him feel angry. It also made him feel guilty as he began to wonder what Draco might have been like had he been allowed to fly free. What might _he_ have been like with someone there nurturing him instead of always trying to reign him in and make him a proper pureblood?

“Does he annoy you?” Hermione asked. It was something she often wondered about. Elias could be aggravating at times with his incessant chatter. She often grew short on patience but knew that he was learning about the world and about people through his talking, even if he often said the wrong thing.

“I would be lying if I said he didn’t rub my nerves from time to time, but mostly I find him amusing. The boy has a head for details, even if he is too young to understand what they mean. He sees and hears everything…I know you don’t like me saying it but he is a brilliant spy.” He grunted when her elbow jabbed him in the side then laughed and hugged her close. “I promise I won’t train him in espionage.”

“It will be interesting to see what house he ends up in when he goes to school.” He possessed tendencies of both a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, time would tell which one would dominate she supposed.

“Malfoys have always been in Slytherin house.” Lucius said thoughtfully. “Of course they have also always been pureblood up until now.”

“And legitimate.” Hermione said, her eye twitching slightly in annoyance at her own words. How many times had she heard the lecture about having a child out of wedlock from various people? She had been called damaged goods and Elias a bastard, her heart breaking a little with every simple minded and archaic comment. She couldn’t believe that she had brought it up, no doubt he thought her bent on marriage now.

“Now that isn’t necessarily true.” He said. “The men in my family have fathered their fair share of children on the wrong side of the blanket. Men have kept mistresses for centuries and accidents happen. Those Malfoys simply did not inherit.”

“Do you have other children?” She asked. It had never occurred to her before that he might have spread his seed far and wide.

“No, there is only Elias and Draco.” He had always chosen mistresses that had proven to be barren though he would never admit that to her. He had been careful to the point of paranoia as a young man, making certain that he not only used a contraceptive spell but French letters as well. Hermione was in fact his only ‘oops’. “To date you are the only woman to make me lose my head to the point of irresponsibility.” 

“I think I might be flattered if I thought you had really wanted me that night. But since I know you didn’t…”

“I want you now.” He interrupted quietly. “I was out of my head that night, I wish that we could forget it happened, or at least forget that it happened the way it did. You deserved better than that for your first time.”

“My only time, so far.” She confessed softly. Lucius didn’t comment, his head was spinning as he contemplated the fact that her body had never been given to another. He could potentially be the only man to ever know her intimately. His body’s reaction was instant and acute. He hardened painfully, his erection pressing against the back of his zipper insistently, eager to get out and seek the honeyed warmth of the woman beside him. He clenched his jaw and slowly eased away from her. “Should I not have admitted that?” She asked, suddenly nervous that she had done something wrong. She was such a novice at the whole witch wizard thing she was certain that she would muck it up.

“No, your admission was…it was…” What was he supposed to say? He couldn’t tell her that knowing no other man had been inside her made him hard enough to split wood. “It made me even more determined to do this right. That means it is time for me to go.”

“I don’t understand.” She stood when he did, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what was going on. Lucius reached out and stroked the backs of his fingers along her cheek.

“Your only real experience with men, with me, was a painful moment of grief that resulted in your life changing completely. I have a chance to make up for that, to make it right by courting you properly, by taking things slowly and making it good, for both of us. That means I leave before things get out of hand and go too far.” He said.

“Things were going to go too far?” Her eyes were wide and he could see the curiosity mingling with the hope.

“Oh yes… because I want very much to kiss you.” His hand slid along her cheek until his fingertips were lightly stroking her ear. “And once I started kissing you I wouldn’t want to stop. Then I would want to touch you, and once I started touching you…things would definitely have gone too far.”

“You want to kiss me?” She asked breathlessly. She was swaying towards him, her eyes glazed over and her pupils dilated. 

“Very much.” He whispered just before he touched his lips to the corner of her mouth. He pressed gently, lingering for a moment before pulling away. It was all he could do to resist the soft, moist temptation of her lips parted so prettily and more than ripe for the taking. “Goodnight, Hermione.” 

“Goodnight, Lucius.” She sighed a little, a disappointed sound that he found amusing and encouraging. He wanted to seduce her, not overwhelm her. He wanted to build on the attraction they felt, create something solid and explore the potential between them and that meant reigning in his passion. He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip lightly before he turned quickly and accessed the floo, leaving her before he lost the ability to.


	11. Doing It Right

****

**Chapter Eleven: Doing it Right **

_Where Lucius surprises Hermione._

It was Friday, the bookstore was closed early and Hermione and Jessa were sitting in the middle of the floor sorting through the new inventory. Hermione preferred to do it alone, she got finished a LOT earlier when there was no one around and she could use her wand but Jessa insisted on helping. Hermione knew the truth of it, Jessa wanted to pump her for details on Lucius. She was obsessed with the idea of Hermione and Lucius…well, just the thought of it had her blushing. After ringing the house to make sure all was well with Harry and Elias she and Jessa had ordered take-away for dinner and set to work.

“So…how are things?” Jessa asked as she slipped off her platform heels and flexed her toes. 

“Things are fine.” Hermione said, reaching for a box cutter and slicing through the tape sealing the first box. “How are things for you?”

“Okay, forget the polite bullshit, how is that sexy hunk of a man who has been at your house practically every night for the last two months. Did he like the dress you borrowed? I thought you looked hot in it.” Jessa watched her friend’s cheeks redden and her curiosity was peaked even more.

“He liked it just fine.” Hermione said as she began unpacking books and stacking them on the floor.

“Stop right there, put the books down and look at me.” Jessa said, shoving the box aside and out of Hermione’s reach. Hermione sighed and looked up at her friend, knowing that evasion was useless. “The roses the other day…they meant something didn’t they?” 

“We are…I don’t know what we are doing but yes, they meant something.” She said with her cheeks flaming.

“Has he kissed you?” Jessa asked.

“Yes.”

“Have you slept with him?” Jessa saw her cheeks redden further and easily discerned her answer. “Why not?”

“Jessa!” Hermione frowned and shook her head. She should be beyond blushing by now at Jessa’s comments.

“Oh quit blushing, Hermione! You are a grown woman and that man…” Jessa fanned herself and closed her eyes, sighing exaggeratedly, “That man is something else. I would bet anything that he is packing.” 

“What does that mean?” Hermione was afraid to ask but she did anyway. She had been considering a rather intimate conversation with Jessa for a few days. What did a man like Lucius expect of a woman he was courting? What would he want from her? What was she prepared to give?

“It means that I doubt he requires any extra padding in his trousers.” Jessa waggled her brows and leaned back on her hands, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing them at the ankle. 

“You have seen him once, how could you possibly come to that conclusion?” Hermione didn’t want to admit it, but she _was_ rather curious. She hadn’t actually _seen_ it, things happened rather quickly and he had yelled at her to go away immediately after. Ron…well, aside from feeling it against her thigh a few times when they had been making out, she hadn’t any real up close and personal time with the male anatomy.

“Oh, you get an eye for it after a while and trust me, your man will not disappoint.” Her low, throaty chuckle filled the air. “But…you know that already with him being Elias’s father and all.”

“We were drunk, I don’t remember much.” It was the only excuse she could come up with for Jessa. She couldn’t exactly tell her that they had just fought a war against a maniacal dark wizard and somehow ended up shagging in the common room of a school for magical children. Drunken sex worked much better and it wasn’t exactly a lie, Lucius had been pissed and she had had a drink.

“Now that is a shame. Was it your first time?” Jessa asked. 

“Yes, it was.” She answered honestly. 

“How many have you had since?” Jessa knew that she had dated her little ginger friend for a time but it hadn’t lasted. For a time she had suspected that either he or Harry had fathered Elias but quickly dismissed that notion.

“Um….none.” Hermione muttered. Jessa’s soft “oh” told her that she had shocked her friend with her answer.

“I knew you were a bit naïve sexually but I didn’t realize you were so inexperienced. I just thought you were a bit of a prude.” Jessa said. Hermione frowned a little and sighed, leaning back on her hands. The inventory wasn’t going to get done, she would have to come in early, before Jessa arrived and do it before they opened.

“I’m not a prude, I _know_ all about sex its just all theory and no practice.” She said. 

“Do you want to sleep with him?” Jessa asked.

“I don’t know…maybe…I don’t know…it’s complicated, he’s a lot older than me, a lot more experienced…I don’t want to make a fool of myself.” She was confused, completely disoriented and unsure of herself, of what she wanted.

“I recall you saying that you went to school with his son…how exactly did you end up fucking him?” Hermione flinched and gasped at Jessa’s choice of phrasing.

“Jessa!”

“Oh stuff it, Hermione, I know you don’t exactly have virgin ears.” Jessa rolled her eyes. “Call it what you want but I am going to call a fuck a fuck and everyone can be damned if they don’t like it.”

“We, um…there had been an accident…several people were lost…we were drinking and tried to comfort each other.” Hermione strove to give Jessa an answer as close to the truth as she could manage.

“I am surprised a man his age isn’t married.” 

“He was….um…his wife was killed in the accident…that’s sort of why things were such a mess.” Hermione said softly.

“I can see where that might complicate things. I’m sure getting pregnant your first time and under those circumstances didn’t help matters any.” Jessa adored Hermione, like a little sister. She watched her with pure admiration as she managed the difficult life of a single mother. She wanted her friend to be happy more than anything else in the world.

“It certainly put my life into rather harsh perspective. I have never been irresponsible, but one time, ONE time I drop my guard and end up pregnant.” Hermione shook her head. “I will certainly be more careful in the future, I am definitely not ready for another child right now.”

“You should consider going on the po…pill.” Jessa said.

“I don’t know how I feel about putting all those fake hormones into my body. I’ll have to look into my options. I can’t believe I’m actually considering birth control.” Hermione sat up, cross legged, her hands dangling between her legs. 

“Well…that aside, you didn’t really answer my question. You only explained the complicated nature of your relationship. Do you want to fuck him or not?” Jessa asked, deliberately using the vulgar term in an effort to lighten her younger friend up. 

“I don’t know!” Hermione near shouted.

“What do you mean you don’t know? He either gets your juices flowing or he doesn’t!” Jessa definitely had her work cut out for her.

“He makes me breathless….he makes my pulse race.” Hermione offered.

“That’s all well and good, but does he get your knickers wet?” Jessa chuckled when Hermione’s eyes widened. 

“Well….yeah.” Hermione blushed to the roots of her hair.

“Fantastic!” Jessa laughed. “SO…what do you plan to do about it?”

“What do you mean _what do you plan to do about it_? I don’t plan to do anything, I’m just…letting it happen…naturally.” Hermione said, a soft smile tugging her lips. “I mean he just kissed me for the first time…”

“Wait…he just kissed you for the _FIRST_ time? You didn’t kiss when you fucked him?” Jessa’s incredulous tone had Hermione squirming uncomfortably.

“No…we weren’t in our right minds… and he’s being a gentleman…”

“Oh, Darling! You could end up waiting forever! If he’s being a gentleman then that means he is waiting on you to show him what you are ready for and no offense, Doll, but you don’t exactly put out the ‘come get me big boy’ vibe.” Jessa chuckled. “There is so much that you can do without doing something you aren’t ready for.”

“Like what?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Like a well executed blow-job, or a little touchy feely….you could let him spend a little time whispering to the kitty…”

“Whispering to the what?”

“Eating pussy.” Jessa got a sadistic thrill out of watching Hermione’s reactions.

“Jessa!”

“Don’t knock it until he’s tried it.” She gave Hermione a saucy wink and flicked her tongue out. Both women burst into fits of laughter, jumping when they heard a heavy pounding on the front door. “I’ll get it, probably some idiot who can’t be bothered to read the sign.” 

Hermione was still smiling as she watched Jessa get to her feet and walk through the store to the front door. She admired the sensual way that her friend moved. She was so comfortable in her own skin, in her sexuality. She had no shame or reservations, everything she was she put out there for the world to see. She couldn’t help but envy that kind of freedom. Within moments Jessa was strolling back towards her, a large black box in her hands.

“What is that?” Hermione asked as Jessa sat down across from her, setting the box on the floor between them.

“It’s for you, that was a courier service.” Jessa reached over the box and handed her an envelope that came with it. “I think we can guess who it’s from, but read the note anyhow.”

Hermione saw the Malfoy crest pressed into the black wax sealing the envelope and prayed that it wasn’t a spelled letter as she broke the seal and withdrew the card inside. She silently thanked the gods that it didn’t jump out of her hand and begin reciting the message. Instead she found herself looking at the elegant scrawl of the man who had sent it. 

“Read it, out loud! Hurry up, I wanna see what he sent you!” Jessa said giddily as she literally bounced with her excitement.

“Okay!” Hermione laughed and cleared her throat. “Dearest Hermione, A borrowed dress just will not do for our first official evening out. So I took the liberty of providing you with something that is yours and yours alone. Do not even think about refusing. Inside you will also find a certificate for a day at the Pampered Goddess. You are expected at ten tomorrow. I have already arranged for Potter to mind Elias so you may expect me around seven tomorrow evening. Yours, Lucius.”

“Oh he is…damn I am so jealous!” Jessa said when she was finished reading. “Open it! Open it!” 

“Alright! I’ll open it!” She laughed, pulling the black ribbon from around the box and removing the lid. She dug through the ream of silver tissue paper and then gasped softly when she saw it. “Oh my.” She whispered, reaching in with shaking hands to lift the dress from the box.

It was sleeveless with a square cut bodice and fitted waist. The skirt flared out softly and would come to just below her knees. The black crepe fabric had just the slightest shimmer in the light. It was beautiful and obviously expensive, though she would expect nothing less from Lucius. 

“That isn’t a dress…_that_ is Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Jessa said, in awe of the beautiful designer dress clutched in her friend’s hand. She looked down and saw a smaller black box nearly hidden by the tissue paper. She pulled it out and removed the lid, revealing a pair of matching high heeled shoes. “The man certainly has taste.”

“This is too much…I can’t believe…”

“That a handsome, wealthy man wants to pamper you and spoil you a little? You deserve it, Hermione. He wants to shower you with gifts and attention, let him!” Jessa smiled. “Don’t let your pride get in the way of this gorgeous man wooing you. I wish I had your luck.”

“I’ve never owned anything like this before.” She said, carefully putting the dress back into the box.

“Somehow I doubt this will be the last time you utter those words in regards to one of his gifts.” Jessa said, helping her place the lid back on the box. “He thought of everything…dress, shoes, trip to a spa….but he forgot one important little detail.”

“What’s that?” Hermione asked distractedly, running her finger over his signature on the note. 

“Lingerie.” Jessa smirked when Hermione’s head popped up. “Forget the inventory, we can do it another day…you and I are going lingerie shopping.”

“I don’t know….”

“It’s time to put the cotton knickers away, Hermione. It’s time to put on some big girl undies and learn how to make a man growl so he can make your kitty purr.” She winked as she began slipping into her shoes.

“Jessa, you are something else.” Hermione shook her head in exasperation. 

“Get your purse, Doll, you are about to get a lesson in seduction from one of the best.”


	12. Well Meaning Friends

****

**Chapter Twelve: Well Meaning Friends**

_Where others try to be helpful._

Hermione lounged in a tub of hot, bubbling, scented water. The heat seeped into her muscles and the soft scent of lavender wafting from the water soothed her nerves and relaxed her further. She had been exfoliated, moisturized, massaged, plucked, waxed and buffed to within an inch of her life since arriving at the Pampered Goddess that morning. Her finger and toenails were cut, shaped and polished into an immaculate French manicure. Her legs and bikini area were waxed, her brows plucked into a perfect arch above her eyes. She had gotten a facial that left her skin glowing and a potion was applied that whisked away the dark circles that tended to form as a result of a busy life.

Her body had been rubbed down with a sea-salt and natural mineral exfoliate then slathered with thick, scented cream that gave her an all over sun-kissed look. From there she had been served lunch in a quiet room with soft music. When she was finished she was sent into a shower that felt more like rain falling over her before being led into a candlelit room where she received a full body massage that lulled her to sleep. Her boneless body was then led into a salon where she received the full treatment for her hair. The wild tangle of sable curls was cut and conditioned then styled into a wave of silky, bouncy curls that were now pinned to the top of her head as she relaxed in the aroma-therapy bath. 

She definitely felt like a pampered goddess. It was probably the most wonderful gift she had ever received next to Elias. She was relaxed, truly relaxed for the first time in ages and she felt incredible. She couldn’t wait to put on her new dress and see Lucius. She was even excited to don the new underwear that Jessa had bullied her into buying the night before. She couldn’t fight the smile that lifted her lips as she recalled the previous night’s adventure with Jessa.

They had put the inventory into the stock room to sort later and left the bookshop in search of a new lingerie wardrobe for Hermione. She had insisted that it was too late to be out shopping, nothing was going to be open. But her argument was quashed quickly by Jessa who told her that the places that sold what they were looking for were always open late. 

There had been nothing out of the ordinary about the small shop front in a quaint brick building in the retail district. It looked like every other little boutique with the pretty pink lettering on the window and awning. But as soon as they stepped inside Hermione was overwhelmed by…well…sex. She couldn’t deny that it was tastefully arranged. Muted shades of pink and cream drew her in, made her comfortable as she took in rack after rack of lingerie. In the back of the boutique shelves filled with candles and lotions lined the walls. She didn’t get much of a chance to browse before Jessa shoved her into a changing room and began passing hangers through the door.

Over the course of nearly 3 hours Hermione tried on various styles of bra. Bras that pushed her boobs in and up, bras that barely covered her nipples, bras that were lacy, silky, sheer and combinations of all three. She tried on strapless bras, racer backed bras, bras that were not meant to serve as bras but as titillation for a man with their cut out nipples or impractical fabrics. She even tried on a couple of corsets before it was all said and done. Jessa was more knowledgeable about lingerie and what men liked. She didn’t hesitate to reach in and _adjust_ Hermione when she didn’t quite have it right, at one point she had been in the changing room with both Jessa and the salesgirl having her breasts lifted and jiggled into just the right position. She had been fondled more in those few hours by the two women than ever before in her life, though it was more embarrassing than anything else.

Once she had chosen a few bras for purchase Jessa moved on to the knickers. Thongs, t-backs, bikinis, hipsters and boy shorts in a variety of colors and fabrics were brought to her attention. She didn’t relish the idea of the skinny little string rubbing between the cheeks of her bottom so she settled on the hipsters and a few pairs of boy shorts, making sure to get some that matched her new bras. She spent more on herself than she could ever recall doing before and felt guilty almost immediately. But Jessa wouldn’t hear of it, she told her that she deserved it, she deserved pretty things that made her feel sexy and beautiful. But as a mother she couldn’t seem to get that through her head. Not when she thought about all the things she could be buying for Elias. Still she had gone home with her packages and thanks to the collection of toys provided for sale in the back room a wealth of knowledge about the handling of a man’s equipment.

Maybe, just maybe, she would have an opportunity to test her new found knowledge, if things went well. It was still highly possible that without Elias there they would fall flat and fizzle. She certainly hoped not, not after what she had endured from her friends to have him in her life. She was tired of being lonely, it would be nice to have a man in her life, someone who desired her and found her pretty. It would be nice to see what it _could have_ been like between them had they come together on different terms five years before. As the clock across the room chimed her stomach began to flutter. She would have her answers soon enough.

****

**~@~**

Draco entered his father’s study to find him standing behind his desk staring at the black suit that was draped over the back of his chair. Several different colored silk ties were laid out on his desk and he had a puzzled look on his face.

“Another muggle suit?” Draco asked, coming to stand beside him.

“Yes. I thought wizarding robes were complicated.” Lucius said, frowning as he stared back at the line of neckties. “The clothier sent an entire box of ties and I have no idea which one to wear.”

“For what?” Draco asked, his brow lifting when he read the designer’s name on the garment bag. His father certainly had taste in muggle clothing.

“I have a…_date_…with Hermione.” Lucius mumbled, reaching out for a bright red necktie and holding it up. “When did clothing get so complicated?”

“It’s just a necktie, Father. Wear the black one, it’s simple and elegant, perfect for an evening out.” Draco said, replacing the red tie draped across his father’s fingers with the black. “Why are you wearing a muggle suit instead of dress robes?”

“Because we are going to be in London, I prefer that our first date not be plastered all over the papers.” Lucius put the tie around the hanger and tucked his suit back into the garment bag. “My hope is that we can soon move freely through the wizarding community and not have to keep our activities restricted to the muggle world.”

“All of the exposure to muggle things and muggle clothing starting to get to you?” Draco teased as he leaned against his father’s desk. Lucius reached for another garment bag beneath his suit and unzipped it to reveal a black woolen dress coat from the same designer.

“I don’t mind the clothing so much. I found the denim trousers rather comfortable actually.” He said as he zipped the bag once more, apparently satisfied with his purchase. No doubt he had hired someone to procure the clothing for him, still, it was a rather big step for Lucius. “I do not like the insane books that Elias is so fond of. Rubbish about obnoxious cats wearing hats and creatures called Whos, and ridiculous games that have rules that make no sense at all to me. I look forward to the day I can take him into a wizarding establishment and buy him proper toys and books for a young wizard.”

“It sounds as though you are getting close.” Draco watched as his father used his wand to send his clothing to his chambers and then settled into his chair. He looked nervous and Draco found that amusing.

“Yes, I don’t think my relationship to Elias will be a secret from him much longer. Now that Hermione and I are…becoming involved, I believe he will begin asking more questions.” He drummed his fingers on the desk, checking his wristwatch for the tenth time in an hour. 

“Nervous?” Draco smirked. Lucius frowned at his son’s smug expression. Of course Draco would be enjoying the situation, like father like son.

“It is my first date in over thirty years, Draco. What do you think?” Lucius scoffed, running his fingers through his hair as he leaned back in the chair. He had been in his seventh year at Hogwarts when he began courting Narcissa and it was always to proper society events. They were never left alone, her sister Andromeda had always been present and when she wasn’t available a servant was sent to chaperone. His first moment alone with her had been on their wedding night and it had been so nerve wracking it had given him a headache. Things were different now. A chaperone was not required with Hermione. He could be alone with her, he could be intimate with her without anyone interfering. It was intoxicating to consider.

“Are you certain that you wish to become involved with Granger?” Draco asked, his head tilted to the side. “She wasn’t raised in our world, she wasn’t raised in pureblood society.”

“What are you getting at, Draco?” Surely he wasn’t trying to convince him not to spend time with her because she was a muggleborn? After all their family had gone through because of such ignorant racism, surely he knew better?

“Mother was raised a proper pureblood lady. She was raised to ‘know her place’ which meant that she turned a blind eye to certain things. Like you keeping a mistress. Hermione is not the kind of woman who turns her head and bites her lip in silence. She will not tolerate infidelity. Being with her will mean changing the lifestyle you were familiar with in your relationship with Mother.” Draco explained.

“If there is one thing I have learned in the last few years it is that my old life wasn’t working for me. Change doesn’t bother me as much as it once did. And if I am honest with you…I have no interest in other women…only her.” Lucius admitted, sounding as though he were confused by the notion of desiring only one woman. After Draco had been born he had kept a mistress, not because he didn’t care about his wife, but because he didn’t with to impose himself upon her. Narcissa never refused him but she never seemed to have a sex drive that equaled his, so he took his urges elsewhere to have his needs met. 

“That’s good, I wasn’t trying to talk you out of seeing her, I just wanted to make sure you understood that she is a modern witch with modern ideals and modern expectations. She will not be content to be “the little woman” sitting in the background with her needlepoint, she is going to be a lot for you to handle considering what you are used to.”

“I’m sure I can adapt.” Lucius said.

“Do you have protection?” Draco asked, trying desperately to hold back his smirk.

“I have my wand, but I don’t expect the area we are going to will be dangerous.” He said.

“That isn’t what I meant.” Draco said, biting his tongue to hold his laughter at bay. “I’m going to assume that you don’t.” He said reaching into his back pocket and withdrawing his wallet. He tossed two little gold foiled packets onto the desk and put his wallet away. “Don’t worry, I always carry a couple just in case.”

“A couple what?” Lucius picked up the packets and turned them over in hand.

“Condoms.” 

“Oh for the love of Merlin!” Lucius said, dropping the packets back onto his desk. “Do you have no shame?”

“Hey! I’m not the one with a history of impregnating young witches.” Draco managed through his laughter. His father looked absolutely horrified.

“I don’t plan on bedding the witch! I just began courting her!” Lucius shook his head, but eyed the condoms. Would she expect him to have them? “What happened to contraceptive spells and potions? Were they banned without my knowledge?” 

“No, but you didn’t exactly remember to use it before, did you? Of course, there is no guarantee that you will remember to put one of those on in the heat of the moment either, but it does protect you from anything she might have…or protect her from anything you might….”

“Stop right there!” Lucius held up his hand to silence him. “I’m not worried about that, she…well, there has only been me. And I wasn’t exactly living it up in Azkaban and I had a full medical when I was released, so I am perfectly healthy. You may keep your….prophylactics.”

“I have plenty, why don’t you hold on to those…just in case.” Draco said, nodding towards the little packets. “Wouldn’t do for you to make any more little Malfoys outside of marriage.” 

“You are….very much a Malfoy.” Lucius sighed as he got to his feet. “I am going to go shower and get ready for my evening. Would you mind having my car brought around?”

“Ah…the new penis on wheels you bought?” Draco teased. He shared his father’s love of driving, though he preferred something low slung and fast.

“Just have Shaw bring it round, please.” Lucius said as he exited his study.

“Shaw!” Draco shouted and instantly a house elf appeared in front of him. Shaw was the head-elf and the only servant his father was even semi-fond of. 

“Yes, Master Draco?” Shaw made certain to keep his eyes lowered, showing proper respect to the family he served.

“Father wants his car brought around for his date this evening.” Draco smiled and reached for the little foil packets lying on the desk. “He forgot these, could you go up to his room real quick and put them in the trouser pocket of his new suit? The one in the Armani bag.” 

“Of course, right away, Master Draco!” Shaw bowed quickly and vanished from sight, the condoms clutched in his hand. Draco crossed his arms, feeling very much like a father sending his child on his first date.


	13. Everything is Backwards

****

**Chapter Thirteen: Everything Is Backwards**

_A courting they will go.._

Lucius was actually nervous when he pulled his car to halt in front of Hermione’s house. He stared at the house for a few moments, thinking about his last ‘date’. He had picked Narcissa up in a carriage. She had been afraid of automobiles and never understood why he loved driving so much. She didn’t understand the freedom that came with climbing behind the wheel and just driving, no destination in mind, no sound except the hum of the road or maybe the radio if the mood struck. She preferred the old ways, the more traditional way of things. They had gone to the theater, her sisters in tow to make certain all was proper and at the end of the night he had returned them to their home with naught but a kiss on the hand. 

It wouldn’t be that way with Hermione. They would be alone with no one to listen to their conversations, no one to make sure they kept a respectable distance from each other, no one to stop him from tasting her lips if he so desired. Being with a ‘modern’ witch would be new for him and not just because she was muggleborn. Even his mistresses had been ‘traditional’, Pureblood widows or spinster daughters. He never went for the young ones either, too much drama and it was too likely that they would form attachments and make demands he had no intentions of answering. Hermione would be a first for him on so many levels, just as he had been her first.

The short jaunt up the walk and onto the porch was a bit nerve wracking. He could go into a battle without fear, without his nerves interfering, but for some reason approaching her door that night had his stomach tensing. He was there nearly every night and not once had he felt so on edge, but then again his visits had never had the sort of importance that this visit did, this visit changed everything. He clutched a bouquet of rare lilies in his hand from his greenhouses and after taking a deep breath he reached out and knocked on the door like a proper suitor. 

He was surprised when Hermione didn’t answer the door, instead it was Harry Potter staring back at him through the screen.

“She isn’t ready.” Harry said shortly as he pushed open the door and invited Lucius inside. 

“I am a bit early. Good evening, Mr. Potter.” Lucius said politely as he entered the familiar comfort of Hermione’s home.

“Just Harry.” Harry said as he walked past him into the living room. Lucius followed, his smile brightening when he saw Elias on the floor with his coloring books and crayons. His chest tightened when Elias looked up then squealed as he leapt to his feet and ran to him with his arms up. 

“Loo-she-us!” As soon as Lucius swung him into his arms he wrapped his arms and legs around him and hugged him tight. Harry watched in amazement as Lucius returned the little boy’s affection with a light chuckle and a reciprocated embrace.

“Did you miss me?” He asked, pulling back to stare into eyes so much like his own. It had been two days since he had seen his youngest child and to his surprise, he had missed him. 

“I did! You’ve been gone!” Elias said, an exaggerated pout on his face.

“I had business to deal with, but I was most certainly thinking about you. Have you been a good boy?” Lucius asked, still holding him.

“I tried, but it’s hard.” Elias said solemnly. 

“What did you do?” Lucius asked, his eyes narrowed slightly as he waited for Elias to admit to his latest bit of mischief.

“I accidentally put bat bogeys on the painting at Uncle Harry’s house.” Elias said, peeking around Lucius to Harry.

“Accidentally?” Lucius queried, turning around to face Harry.

“He used his learner’s wand to cast a bat bogey hex on the portrait of Mrs. Black in my hall.” Harry was fascinated by watching Lucius with Elias. He never dreamed Lucius could be so tender, so affectionate, so patient. 

“She calls me a half-blood buzzard and George said she was a mean old bat so I gave her bat bogeys. But Mum said it wasn’t very nice.” Elias’s lip pushed out slightly and he cast his eyes down. No doubt he had confused the word buzzard with bastard. Lucius remembered Mrs. Black, she _was_ a mean old bat and apparently death had done little to sweeten her sour disposition.

“Well…it wasn’t very nice…but I understand that she made you angry and hurt your feelings.” Lucius said softly. “How about you try a little harder to ignore her next time?”

“Yes, sir.” Elias said, smiling slightly when he met Lucius’s eyes. “Your flowers are poking me.” 

Lucius laughed and set the child back on the floor, checking to make certain that the lilies had not been crushed by his son’s embrace.

“These are for your mother.” Lucius said.

“Mummy said you are going to dinner but this time it was grown ups only so I have to stay with Uncle Harry.” Elias looked disappointed.

“Yes, tonight is strictly a grown up dinner. We will go to dinner again soon all together.” He ruffled Elias’s curls and smiled down at him. “Shouldn’t you be in your pajamas?”

“Yes, sir. Are you reading me a story?” He asked.

“Not tonight, Elias, I am sure Harry will read to you.” It saddened him to allow another man to read to his son, it had become something special to him since the first time Elias asked him to tell him a story. “I tell you what, go get ready for bed, if you hurry perhaps I can tell you a short story before your mother is ready to go.”

“Okay! I’ll be super-fast, I promise!” Elias said excitedly as he hurried off down the hall.

“You surprise me.” Harry said as he came up beside him. “You love him.”

“He is my son, of course I love him.” Lucius said, slightly offended. Why did people assume that he did not have the capacity to love? 

“Don’t hurt them, Malfoy.” Harry said quietly. 

“I would never hurt them if I can help it. I know you don’t believe me, that you don’t trust me and you have every right not to, it is more than understandable. I don’t want to hurt them, I want to take care of them, I want to make life better for them and be a part of that life…I care about them, very much.” Lucius confessed. It burned his throat to reveal his vulnerable side to Harry but he understood that for all intents and purposes, he was her family. He was the older brother, the father figure, the patriarch of her mismatched and pieced together family. As much as it irritated him, Harry’s approval mattered.

“You realize how back ass-wards you and Hermione have done this whole thing, don’t you?” Harry shook his head. “I mean you sleep together first, have a child and _then_ date. It’s all screwed up.”

“Well, I swore I was going to change my ways, change my life, I am simply mixing things up and keeping them interesting.” Lucius said sarcastically. He wanted to cuff the boy and tell him to mind his damned business but he held his tongue. 

“I _want_ you to prove me wrong. I want you to show me that I was wrong about you. So far, so good. Just don’t disappoint me because I will go to any lengths necessary to keep Hermione and Elias safe.” Lucius was impressed with, Potter’s conviction. Perhaps the boy retained more of The Dark Lord’s darkness than anyone cared to believe. 

“Understood. If you will excuse me, I am going to go read my son a bedtime story.” He removed his coat and laid it across the chair then headed down the hall to read to Elias.

****

**~@~**

Hermione entered her living room with her hand pressed into her lower belly trying to still the butterflies that threatened to have her entire body trembling. She saw Harry sitting on the sofa, his feet propped up on her table with a Quidditch magazine in his hands. Elias’s coloring books were still scattered on the rug but her son was no where to be seen. 

“Where is Elias?” she asked, looking around. Harry switched his attention from the magazine to her and gave a long appreciative whistle.

“Wow…Mione…you look….damn!” He grinned when she blushed and smoothed her skirt. 

“Um…thanks. Elias?” She queried.

“Lucius is here.” Harry gestured to the lilies lying on the table and the coat draped over the chair. “He went to put Elias to bed.”

“He enjoys tucking him in, though he complains about the Dr. Seuss stories.” The soft smile on her lips when she spoke of him was telling. She cared for him and she trusted him, she trusted him to be a good father to Elias. Harry wondered if she gave him her trust too easily. Could he really change? “I’ll go see how they are coming along.” 

She walked down the hall and as she approached she heard Elias and Lucius discussing the circus. Their son was trying to convince his father to take him and Lucius was capitulating. She was going to have to watch him or Elias would be spoiled rotten in no time. 

She felt a sudden jolt go through her when she stopped in the doorway to Elias’s room. Lucius, dressed in a black suit that probably cost more than she made in four months was stretched out beside Elias, his ankles crossed. He had obviously finished the story as the brightly colored book was lying closed on the nightstand. He had his hair tied back, accentuating the silver at his temples and the sharp angles of his face. He was so handsome, the kind of man that women noticed and reacted to without thinking about it. And for some strange reason, he had chosen her. 

“Ooooo….Mummy, you look beautiful!” Elias said as he uncurled himself from his father’s side.

“Thank you, Baby.” She said, smiling as she made her way to the side of his bed and leaned over Lucius to kiss his forehead. “It’s time for bed, I love you.” 

She stood back while Lucius stood and tucked the quilt around him, ruffling his curls before he turned to face her. He cleared his throat as he ran his eyes over her. Her hair was pulled back into low ponytail, her curls tamed and smoothed into soft waves. Her skin was smooth and glowing, her cheeks flushed as she stood still beneath his perusal. The dress fit her like a dream, just as the clothier had said it would. She was a perfect blend of innocent youth and seductive woman, and he was most certainly seduced.

“You look beautiful.” He said hoarsely when his gaze returned to her face.

“Thank you, you look very handsome yourself.” She said, reaching out to smooth his slightly rumpled tie. He drew in a sharp breath when her hand pressed against his chest. He could feel the heat of her touch through his shirt and he wished he could feel it against his bare skin. “I’m sorry I took so long to get ready…I’m not used to dressing up.”

“No…it was definitely worth the wait…you are stunning.” There was less than a foot between them and the air surrounding them was thick and pheromone filled.

“Thank you for the dress and the spa.” She still had her hand resting against his chest, the silk tie beneath it absorbing her warmth. 

“You deserve it. That dress was made for you, it’s perfect.” He reached out with a shaking hand and touched her shoulder, lightly tracing her soft skin along the edge of the dress.

“You look at Mum like she’s a cake and you are going to eat her!” Elias giggled from his bed, watching the exchange between the two adults curiously. They stepped apart, both of them with guilty expressions at having forgotten their audience.

“We should get going, we wouldn’t want to miss our reservation.” Lucius said.

“Of course, let me get my coat.” She turned back to the bed and blew a kiss to Elias. “Be a good boy.” She said, smiling when he blew a kiss back to her before she stepped out to retrieve her coat.

“My Mum is real pretty.” Elias said, staring at Lucius who was still staring at the doorway that Hermione had disappeared through.

“Yes, she is very pretty.” Lucius agreed, turning to look at his son. “Goodnight, Elias. I will see you tomorrow and we can talk more about this circus business.”

“Goodnight, Loo-she-us.” Elias said, still smiling as he nestled in beneath his quit, his head dancing with thoughts of the three of them going to the circus. As a family.


	14. The Start of Something Good

****

**Chapter Fourteen: Start of Something Good**

_Where Lucius and Hermione have their first date._

It was difficult not to stare at her as Lucius opened her car door and gave her his hand. Her legs swung to the side, knees together like a proper lady, and she slowly edged her way from the vehicle. He smiled and tucked her arm into his elbow as he stepped beneath the red awning over the walkway and into the restaurant. Hermione had never heard of it before, _Delicieux _ was nestled into an upscale, trendy area near Mayfair. As they stepped inside it was obvious that it was not the sort of place one dined at every day, nor did you bring your children. 

“Let me take your coat.” Lucius said from beside her. She unbuttoned her simple black coat, bought at Harrods on clearance more than four years before; to reveal a dress that had probably cost Lucius more than five times what she paid for the coat covering it. His fingertips brushed her neck as his hands slid into the collar and pulled it from her shoulders. She shivered at that light grazing of his fingers and it didn’t go unnoticed by him. If she reacted like that when he accidentally touched her what would it be like when he touched her with a purpose? He was distracted by those thoughts as he gave their coats to the attendant. Visions of her igniting beneath his touch danced through his head and he had to adjust his suit jacket to cover the results.

“This is so nice.” She said quietly as she took in the candlelit ambiance of the restaurant. Small, intimate tables covered in red linens and flickering candles were scattered around the room. They were a good distance apart, offering privacy to the diners and easy movement for the servers. “You didn’t have to go to so much trouble, Lucius. I would have been content with a curry and a movie.”

“I know, that is why I planned this evening as I did.” He stroked her cheek, enjoying the way her lashes lowered and her lips parted on a sigh. He knew he would enjoy his evening with her more because she _would_ have been happy with less, she didn’t place value on wealth and therefore wouldn’t be constantly expecting lavishness. Spoiling her would be fun because he knew she would always be surprised and always a bit hesitant, she would never expect it. “Let me spoil you, Hermione, just a little bit.”

She didn’t get to respond before a woman in her mid to late thirties approached them. She had her bright ginger hair twisted into an elaborate bun on the back of her head and her bright green eyes raked over the two of them taking in every detail. Her slim fitting black dress draped her willowy body perfectly and she held herself with an elegance that Hermione envied.

“Bonsoir, welcome to Delicieux, do you have a reservation?” She asked in a light French accent.

“Table for two under Malfoy.” Lucius answered. Something about the woman irritated him but he couldn’t quite figure out why. And then she opened her mouth again.

“If you and your daughter will follow me.” She said, eyeing Hermione smugly. Lucius slid his arm around Hermione’s waist and pulled her against his side.

“_Not_ my daughter, and if you don’t want me to speak with your manager I would suggest that you keep your ignorant assumptions to yourself.” Hermione would have probably been embarrassed by his comment to the woman had she not found the hostess’s comment presumptive and offensive.

“I beg your pardon, Monsieur. I meant no offense.” She said, an obviously unrepentant expression on her face.

“Of course you did, but your simple minded pettiness means little to me, simply take us to our table before you ruin our evening.” Lucius had a way of saying things that could bite like a dragon without ever raising his voice. It was a tone that sent chills down her spine. It could cut a person to the quick, could persuade and cajole, and he knew exactly how to use it so that it had the strongest affect. The rather snotty woman didn’t know how to react so she just remained silent and led them to a semi circular booth along the wall nestled into a corner for optimal privacy.

Lucius held her hand as she slid into the booth. She expected him to slide in on the other side but he followed behind her, moving her to the back so that they were seated next to one another. With a simple arch of his brow he dismissed the hostess and they were left alone. 

“Well, she was pleasant.” Hermione said as she reached for the menu.

“She was jealous. She likes to think that by working here she will she land herself a wealthy husband and live a life of luxury.” Lucius scoffed.

“So you read minds now?”

“No, let’s just say I have run across women like her a time or two in my life. She thought that commenting on our age difference would give her leverage. She was jealous; it’s as simple as that.” He said, reading over the wine list.

“I imagine we will come across others who will take offense to our age difference.” She said conversationally.

“Their opinions don’t matter. Small people have small minds.” Her age was a tender spot for him though he would never tell her that. He still felt the guilt of deflowering her when she was barely of age, of fathering a child on a woman so young but it didn’t weigh as heavily as it once had.

“Well, it’s our…relationship…right? Not theirs so it doesn’t really matter.” She wanted to change the subject.

“That’s right. Do you have an idea what you would like for dinner?” He asked, closing his menu and laying it on the table in front of him.

“I…I don’t know…there are no prices on this menu, Lucius.” She observed.

“Price doesn’t matter, order what you want.” He said, smiling when she frowned and bit her lip.

“But…”

“Whatever it is, I can afford it.” He smirked. She was adorable, always the frugal one, never spending in excess, never buying what wasn’t absolutely necessary. She was an enigma in that right, so unlike the aristocratic women of pureblood society who spent freely without care.

“Braggart.” She said, smiling slightly as she glanced at him over her menu. “Fine…what if I said I wanted the filet mignon AND the lobster?” She asked, figuring they were in the higher price range. 

“Then filet and lobster it is.” He smiled, leaning close to her. “I am _very_ rich, Hermione, it would make your head spin if you knew the truth of it.” 

“It is very clear where our son comes by his arrogance.” She said, licking her lips unconsciously. He was close to her, their noses nearly touching. If she tilted her chin forward just a little their lips would touch. 

“Good evening, I am Gaston, may I take your order?” The waiter’s interruption had Lucius leaning away from her once more. A second longer and he would have kissed her. Kissed her in a way that was completely inappropriate in a public place. Instead he ordered dinner, both steak AND lobster for the two of them and as he did he nearly groaned at the thought of feeding her lobster from his fingers. Feeling her lips wrapped around his fingertips as she savored the rich, buttery flavor. 

He became determined to ignore the ‘voice’ below the belt. It wasn’t easy; it had been a long, long time since he had felt the warmth of a woman beneath his hands. Since he had sunk into the silky wet warmth of a female body and gotten lost in the delirium of pleasure. It didn’t help that she was sitting beside him looking more beautiful than he had expected. Her skin was so pink and a light floral fragrance clung to her. She looked soft and he had to ball his hands into fists to keep from reaching out to touch her. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her and to his surprise, and his ego’s delight, neither could several other men in the restaurant. 

“Why are you staring at me?” Hermione asked. She was staring at her hands where they were resting in her lap. She was unnerved by his studying of her and she couldn’t deny that his attentions had a tingling warmth spreading through her body. He unnerved her, even more so because she wasn’t used to being wooed, she wasn’t used to having someone in her life who wanted to spoil her, who simply wanted her period.

“Because you are lovely, and I enjoy looking at lovely things.” He reached over and clasped her chin with gentle fingers, turning her face towards him. She raked her teeth over her bottom lip gently and he wanted to nibble on it as well. A little sigh escaped her when his fingertips began to traverse her face. He traced her brows, her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. He even feathered his fingertips over her thick lashes. “I can’t believe I was so blind to such beauty.”

“I’m not beautiful, Lucius. I certainly wasn’t when I was in school…” She began to protest but was silenced by his finger pressed against her lips. 

“Don’t contradict me, Hermione. I know beauty when I see it, if I say you are beautiful then you are beautiful, no arguments.” He said, caressing the soft bottom lip he coveted. Her mouth was a thing of true beauty. Deep pink and pillowy soft, the top lip was shaped into a perfect cupid’s bow while the bottom lip was full and soft, a temptation he was finding it difficult to resist.

“You are so…cocky.” She said against his fingertip, a smile spreading her lips. He flashed his devilish grin and winked at her as his fingers slid slowly down over her chin and feathered over the sensitive skin of her throat, daringly tickling along her collarbones just above the neckline of her dress.

“It suits me, don’t you think?” He asked, leaning close to her as he moved his other arm to the back of the booth and behind her shoulders.

“You Malfoys are something else.” Her breath caught when he pressed his fingers against her throat and felt the pulse pounding wildly beneath the skin.

“Don’t forget that our son is also a Malfoy.” He liked the way her eyes softened when he said ‘our’ son. It hadn’t been that way at first, they had flashed with anger and possessiveness and sometimes with fear. It was the fear that had affected him so much. He never wanted to see that emotion in her eyes ever again, especially not fear of him.

“Our son will probably be the cockiest Malfoy ever born.” She was leaning towards him without thought, unconsciously moving in to a perfect position for him to take possession of her mouth. 

“His arrogance will serve him well.” Lucius muttered as his eyes narrowed to slits and focused on the wet, pink lips waiting for his kiss. His head lowered and he rubbed his nose against hers, feeling her soft breath against his lips.

“Ahem…your wine, Sir.” Lucius swore softly and pulled back, not missing the disappointed sigh and slump of Hermione’s shoulders at the interruption. He offered the server a tight smile and sampled the wine then nodded his approval for the glasses to be filled. The server obviously knew where he wasn’t wanted and hurried away, leaving them alone once more. 

“I am beginning to wish I had taken you to my house for a quiet dinner alone.” His arm was still draped along the back of the seat and his fingers were idly stroking her shoulder. 

“I am beginning to wish the same thing.” She said quietly.

“Next time I won’t make the mistake of bringing you out in public.” He said quietly. “At least not until I have more control over myself.”

“I didn’t notice that you were out of control.” _She_ felt out of control. Her pulse was racing and she couldn’t stop tapping her foot beneath the table. Her skin felt too tight for her body and her hands literally itched with the need to reach out for him but she was too inexperienced…embarrassed to just do it. He, however, looked perfectly calm sitting beside her; he didn’t look as though he were struggling with his control at all.

“Years of masking my emotions allow me to seem calmer than I am. I am torn, I want you alone but I know that if I am alone with you I will try to make love to you and it’s too soon for that, yet here we are in public and the urge to pull you into my arms and lay you back on the seat is just as strong. What is a wizard to do?” He had his head tucked low, his lips near her ear as he spoke. He could feel her trembling and it only made his discomfort worse because he could imagine her responsiveness mingled with sweaty bodies and tangled sheets.

“Oh…” that one, soft syllable was all she could manage. She swallowed hard and her mouth suddenly felt like a desert causing her to reach for her glass of wine. As the sweet, cool liquid slid over her tongue images that could only be described as carnal drifted through her head. She nearly spilled it when Lucius reached for her glass and set it back on the table.

“Slow down, you haven’t eaten. I don’t want you intoxicated.” He chuckled, handing her a glass of water instead. “Relax, Hermione, I want you but I’m not going to pounce on you the first moment I get you alone.”

_Now that was disappointing._ She thought, trying to keep the frustration from showing on her face. Perhaps she needed some more lessons with Jessa so she could build up the nerve to do the pouncing. If Lucius was determined to play the gentleman she may never know what it’s supposed to be like between a man and a woman. She supposed it was a good thing that their first course arrived, the food was a welcome distraction from the _sex on a stick_, Jessa’s description, beside her. Conversation turned towards safe, neutral territory as they discussed Elias, politics and books.

Things once more became tense when desert arrived, chocolate mousse with thick whipped cream topping. Hermione was a sucker for chocolate, she couldn’t resist, but Lucius turned her obsession for the sweet into something else when he reached out and wiped a smidge of whipped cream from her lip then sucked it from his finger. Her entire body heated as though she were feverish and she felt as though she couldn’t breathe. 

“Would you like to go for a walk?” he asked, his eyes were normally a bright, icy blue color but they had darkened to an almost smoke gray as he stared at her. His voice had deepened and grown hoarse, the raspy sound of it sending shivers down her spine. 

“A walk?” She croaked, cringing at the sound of her own voice.

“I think some fresh air might do us some good.” He turned from her and flagged down their server to ask for the bill. They collected their coats and stepped out into the night air to collect the car from the valet. From there they made their way to a car park near a ferry port. They walked along the Thames, her arm tucked into his elbow as boats moved up and down the river. Above them the sky was clear and bedazzled with a thousand twinkling stars and a full moon. 

“Your willingness to embrace muggle things amazes me.” She said from beside him. “Elias’s books and games, muggle clothing for outings, even tonight, taking me to London for our date. It shows me how serious you are about changing the man you were.”

“There have always been things that required me to drift into the muggle culture. Literature and business crossed cultural boundaries more than once. It just didn’t hold a predominant place in my world. But I also didn’t have a family that crossed those boundaries, that’s changed now.” He felt her hands curl into his arm at his reference to them as his family. “It is my hope that we will soon be able to socialize in the wizarding world, but for this…for our first date I preferred not to have the Prophet’s gossips reporting every bite we took or every look we exchanged.”

“Thank you. I have seen my fair share of that rag’s headlines. They tore my reputation to shreds when it got out that I was pregnant. I am surprised you didn’t read it.” She said.

“I wasn’t allowed to read the prophet or anything else that wasn’t selected and closely monitored by the Ministry. They didn’t want me keeping up on any of my cohorts activities through the news and Draco was under an oath that prevented him from relating any news of the outside that might be deemed “influential” in my reformation.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

“They called me the “whore” of the golden trio. The rumors ran the gamut from being raped by deatheaters to me being the center of a poly-amorous relationship with Ron and Harry. There was even a rumor that the baby belonged to Professor Snape, that he knew he would die and I made him a promise to continue his legacy. As if he would touch me.” She scoffed.

“Don’t discount Severus’s seductiveness, Hermione. He was as weak as the next man when it came to a pretty witch and he had a special weakness for the women of Godric’s house. But he did loathe children so that alone would discredit that rumor for anyone who actually knew him.” He said. “I am still amazed that you didn’t tell anyone the truth of it, that you didn’t demand that I support you financially. Any other witch would have had the story plastered all over every gossip sheet she could find and been in the courtroom demanding her fair share.” 

“I didn’t want that. Elias is a child, not a tool. I love that boy so much I sometimes cry because if I don’t do something to let it out it feels like I will explode. We were getting along just fine and you had enough going on in your life without an illegitimate child to worry about on top of it.” She shivered and leaned into him as the night breeze picked up. Lucius un-tucked her hand from his elbow and curled his arm around her shoulders, holding her against his side as they stopped and stared at the Tower Bridge illuminated in the distance. 

“We’ve walked quite a ways.” He observed. “Are you too cold? We could go back now.”

“This is nice. I haven’t done this since I was little with my parents and I have never done this at night.” She said, letting her head rest against him. 

“Neither have I. When I dated as a young man it was always with chaperones, mostly it was sitting in a family’s parlor having boring conversations or going to the theater, always with a female relative or servant in tow.” Lucius turned his head and inhaled the light fragrance clinging to her hair. 

“Really? I imagined you as a bit of a hellion like Draco. He wasn’t very discriminate of his…erm….companions, nor was he all that circumspect of his activities.” She said, her cheeks blushing as she tattled. 

“Doesn’t surprise me. My son is an enigma to me. I am not quite certain where his personality comes from. I am only glad that I did not succeed in breaking his spirit. He is genuinely happy and has an incredible sense of humor, sometimes I want to throttle him as I tend to be his favorite source of entertainment these days.” He chuckled.

“I am happy that he is doing so well. I think that the last time I saw him was at Flourish and Blot’s about three years ago and only from a distance. He actually smiled at me; I nearly dropped Elias I was so stunned.” She shivered again and Lucius rubbed her arm. 

“There is a little building right there selling coffee and tea, how about we get something warm to drink?” He said already guiding her to the little building. “Two coffees please.” Lucius ordered. The elderly man inside filled two cups with steaming coffee, adding the cream and sugar requested before putting plastic lids on them and sliding them forward. Lucius reached into his trouser pocket for his cash and handed it to the man. Everyone went completely silent when two gold foil packets landed on the counter along with the cash.

“Oh!” Hermione squeaked, her eyes wide as she stared at the word TROJEN in large black letters blazoned across the packets. 

“Damn it, Draco! I swear on all that is holy I am going to crucio that boy!” Lucius swore as he shoved the condoms back into his pocket and snatched the coffees from the old man who was now laughing at him.

“Lucius? Why do you have condoms in your pocket?” She could see that his face was flushing as he carried their coffees over to a bench situated so that they could still watch the river traffic. “Were you planning to…I mean, did you plan for us to….are you planning to spend the night?”

“No! I didn’t, I had no plans for this evening other than spending some time with you. My son the comedian decided to lecture me on…safe sex…while I was preparing for this evening. The condoms were his; he must have put them in my pocket.” Gods what an uncomfortable conversation. He could kill Draco.

“So you don’t want to…spend the night with me?” She didn’t understand it, but she felt a little…rejected. Lucius sat his coffee cup on the bench beside him and took hers to do the same. He laid his gloved hand along her cheek and tilted her face up to his. 

“Don’t misunderstand, I want you very much. I want to spend the night with you, I want to make love to you and show you what it should have been. But I will not rush it. When it happens it will be because we both want it and it will not be a rushed moment like before, it will be slow and it will be sweet and it will take all night.” He said earnestly. He could see the mist of her breath as she panted, her cheeks were flushed and he could feel her body trembling beneath her coat.

“Will you kiss me, please?” She pleaded softly, reaching deep inside her for every bit of courage she could find as she grasped the lapels of his coat and held on tight. He moved in slowly, licking his lips just before he pressed the softest of kisses against hers. The sound of her breathy sigh went all through him and he pressed again, parting his lips against hers and encouraging her to do the same. He kissed her again and again gradually nibbling on her sweet bottom lip before teasing her with the light stroke of his tongue. She opened eagerly and accepted the foray of his tongue, sliding hers against his until the kiss grew so passionate that she feared they would combust from the heat of it. Yet when he pulled away, breathless and gasping for air she found herself clutching him, trying desperately to pull him back to her.

“No, we…I can’t…you have no idea what you do to me, what the taste of you does to me. I am hanging on by a very thin thread here.” He clasped her hands and uncurled them from his coat. He brought them to his lips, kissing them firmly before standing and pulling her to her feet. “I should take you home.”

“A-alright.” She managed, swaying slightly towards him. He had successfully done what no other had come close to doing. He had turned her brain to complete mush where her only thought was ‘my god that man is beautiful’ as he stared down at her, backed by the light of a full moon. With one kiss he had rendered her an idiot.

Lucius led her along the walkway, his body aching and his mind reeling. The taste of her lingered on his tongue, intoxicating him, drugging him. She was just as he had imagined. So responsive and eager, she caught fire like a match to tinder and he felt scorched by her. He wanted to be consumed by her. A little ways down the path he looked around to make certain they were alone then wrapped his arms around her and in an instant they were inside the car.

“Lucius! You should warn me first!” Hermione pressed her hand against her chest, her heart racing as she settled into her seat.

“Forgive me, I only wanted to get you out of the cold.” He said as he shrugged out of his coat and placed it into the back seat, tossing his gloves on top of it before starting the car and turning on the heat. His excuse was only half true; he was finding it incredibly uncomfortable to walk with an erection. “Long drive or short flight?” He asked.

“Long drive, I hate to fly.” She said softly. “Didn’t you notice that I kept my eyes closed the entire trip into London?”

“I wondered about that.” He smiled. “Fine, we will take a long drive through the country.” He turned on the radio but kept the volume low. The ride through the city was quiet but comfortable. Once they crossed the city limits, the brightly lit streets giving way to dark country roads, Lucius reached for her hand, wrapping his fingers around hers and letting them rest on the console between them. She enjoyed that simple intimacy more than she could say. The feel of his larger, stronger hand holding hers securely, the heat of his skin against hers made her feel close to him. 

It took over an hour to reach the long, desolate road that led to her home. As they turned on to her road Lucius brought her hand to his lips briefly then laid her hand on his thigh so he could down shift, slowing their speed and extending the drive. He had only intended to free his hand for a moment so he could shift; he hadn’t expected to feel her fingers begin to slide back and forth tentatively. 

She was looking out the passenger side window, her bottom lip between her teeth and her cheeks flushing. Her fingers moved a little higher as she summoned her courage. She was curious but not quite bold enough to just touch him and satisfy her curiosity. He was amused by her timidity and enflamed by her touch. She was close, the tip of her little finger was damn near bumping against his testicles, but her embarrassment took over and she began inching her hand back into safer territory.

“Hermione?” He said her name softly as he reached for her hand.

“Hmmm?” She couldn’t speak; her throat was constricted with humiliation over the fact that she had nearly molested him while he was driving.

“If you are curious…” he held her fingers tight and slid her palm up along his thigh. “Don’t hesitate, if you want to touch me, do it.” He said as he pressed her palm against the thick, hard ridge of his arousal. She gasped, her fingers instinctively curling around the thick column of flesh covered by his trousers. “Damn!” He hissed, covering her fingers with his and forcing her to squeeze him tighter.

He removed his hand from hers, thrilled beyond words when she continued to squeeze him, taking his measure with gentle, curious fingers. He turned into her drive and as soon as he put the car into park he reached for her and pulled her across the center console and into his lap. He cupped the back of her head and held her still as he ravished her mouth with his. She whimpered into his mouth, her hand still holding on to his shaft as though it were a life line. He kissed her like he was starving for the taste of her, as though he couldn’t get enough and it was only when they were both sweaty, red faced and desperate for oxygen that he eased away from her.

“Lucius?” There was pleading in her eyes and he groaned, shaking his head as he removed her hand from his groin.

“Don’t even ask it, Hermione. I am only a man; I can only take so much.” He said, setting her away from him and quickly exiting the car. He walked around and opened her door, taking her hand as he escorted her up the walk. “You…you are the most amazing woman.” He said quietly at the door.

“You don’t want to come in?” Her voice was hoarse with unresolved sexual tension.

“That wouldn’t be wise.” He cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. “I want you, never doubt that.” With another rough and all too brief kiss he was heading back to his car and pulling out of her drive. 

As soon as he started the car Harry opened the door and pulled her inside, watching Lucius drive away until his tail lights disappeared.

“Damn, that car is awesome.” Harry muttered before he closed her door. He turned around to see Hermione grinning broadly and staring into space as she removed her coat and tossed it over the back of the sofa. “Did you have fun?”

“I had a wonderful time.” She said with a dreamy expression.

“I saw that. I was just waiting for you two to climb into the back seat and send that Rolls a rocking.” He smirked.

“You were watching!” She punched him in the shoulder, hard. “You pervert! You shouldn’t spy on people! Now I know where Elias gets it from!”

“Hey, I was just looking out for you! You went on a date with a deatheater!” He defended himself. Truthfully he was just curious to see how Lucius was with her. He hadn’t really expected to see them making out in the front seat of the car.

“You need to trust me; Lucius is harmless…to me at least.” She said as she kicked off her shoes. 

“So it seems.” Harry said. He could see that Lucius cared, could see that he appeared to have changed. It didn’t mean that he wouldn’t continue to watch the older wizard closely. He couldn’t help it, the past was there and he could quite let it go. “Well…Elias is sleeping soundly, has been since you left. You should get some sleep.”

“Give Ginny a kiss for me.” Hermione said, reaching up to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for sitting with Elias.”

“Anytime, you know I love him. I should go, I’m on duty tomorrow.” He said, hugging her tightly. “I’ll talk to you soon. I love you.”

“I love you too.” She said, watching as he stepped into her hearth and disappeared. She couldn’t stop smiling as she readied herself for bed. It had been a truly magical evening and as she drifted off to sleep she whispered his name.


	15. Young Again

****

**Chapter Fifteen: Young Again**

_Where Lucius feels young again._

Lucius had found a remarkable benefit to his new, _young_ family. They made _him_ feel young again. Through Elias he was experiencing things that he couldn’t remember from his own childhood, things he was too busy and too self-absorbed to experience during Draco’s. He never imagined that a day at the zoo or an afternoon in the park could be so enjoyable. Hermione had a very big role in his enjoyment. He grew more attached to her with every day that passed, with every kiss he stole when Elias wasn’t looking, with every sweet smile she sent his way.

He was exhausted as he closed Elias’s bedroom door. He had carried the sleeping child in after a long evening at the circus. He had nacho cheese on his slacks and a frozen drink stain on his shirt sleeve but he couldn’t be angry because the boy had smiled, laughed and bounced excitedly through the entire show. He was sleeping like the dead, his arm around a stuffed lion and his hand gripping a soft lion tamers whip. He would be pleased to have finally gotten to sleep in his shorts as Lucius just didn’t want to try and wrestle deadweight into little clothes.

When he entered the front room Hermione was slumped on the sofa, her shoes kicked onto the floor and her head resting on the back of the sofa. He sat down beside her, leaning back and sliding down so that they were shoulder to shoulder. They both turned their heads towards each other at the same time, offering each other weary smiles.

“Get him all tucked in?” She asked tiredly.

“Yes, I didn’t even attempt the pajamas, I was lucky to get him undressed.” He reached for her hand and threaded his fingers through hers, letting his body relax and enjoy just being close to her. The smile on her face was one of amusement as she reached out and tugged on his hair, pulling her hand back to reveal a piece of popcorn that had no doubt been transferred from their sticky child while transporting him from the circus to bed.

“You have popcorn in your hair.” She said and vanished it easily with a whispered word. He took her hand and laid it against his cheek, holding her soft palm against his skin. 

“I seem to be well decorated in our son’s treats. My clothes are a mess. But he enjoyed himself, and that outweighs the sorry state of my personal appearance.” He released her hand and closed his eyes as her thumb stroked his cheekbone. It was so difficult not to touch her but they agreed not to flaunt their relationship in front of their oh so curious son.

“Did you have fun?” She asked quietly as she slid her hand back, threading her fingers through the silky hair at his temple. She could only detect the threads of silver when she was close to him, they humanized him somehow.

“I enjoyed the pageantry of it all, but sometimes it is hard to be mesmerized by such things when one wields magic. They _pretend_ to make a person disappear, I _can_ make a person disappear.” He rubbed against her hand, a few more seconds and he would be purring like a kneazle. 

“So jaded.” She murmured as she sifted his silky locks through her fingers. “This is nice.”

“What is?” He asked, his voice a bit lazy, a bit sleepy sounding.

“Being here with you…like this.” He opened his eyes slowly and stared at her. She could feel his gaze almost as if he had touched her. She would never get used to the way he made her feel.

“Kiss me.” He drawled lazily, his eyes still heavy and his body relaxed. 

“I’m not as good at it as you.” She whispered, moving in closer until her lips grazed his. His hand came up to rest on her cheek, pulling her into him.

“It’s not about skill…it’s about feeling, and believe me, I feel it when you kiss me.” He spoke against her mouth, his lips moving against hers with every word. It began innocently enough, two pairs of lips touching, retreating, touching again more firmly. But that morphed into teeth nibbling, tongues touching and mouths suckling. It wasn’t long before that simple, lazy moment became heated and fervent. Bodies came together as they turned towards one another, Hermione throwing her leg across his hips as his hands found the sweet curve of her backside.

He caressed her thigh, following the curve over her hip and then slyly slipping his hand beneath the hem of her long sleeved tee. She whimpered against his lips the moment his hand met bare skin but she didn’t pull away or push him away, instead her arms tightened around his neck and she tried to get closer to him. Gods he felt like a lad, snogging on the sofa and praying that he got to touch her breast before she called it all to a halt. He used his considerable strength to move her off of him, settling her back onto the cushion beside him as he leaned over her, his mouth still firmly attached to hers.

He inched his hand over the smooth skin of her belly, his middle finger dipping into her navel, circling it lightly and causing her stomach muscles to twitch and tighten. He moved slowly, his palm flat against her as he circled higher, carefully gauging her response as he moved closer to the treasure he sought. Her breasts were something of an obsession for him. Soft, round and full he longed to touch them, to see them, to taste them. He wanted to know the color of her nipples, to see and feel them harden at his touch. 

She moaned softly when his fingertips grazed the underside of one breast, the satin material of her bra serving as no barrier to the heat of his touch. When he finally curved his hand around the soft globe she pulled her lips from his and arched her back, pressing into his hand more firmly.

“You fit so perfectly in my hand.” He whispered, pressing his lips against the side of her throat, licking the pulse pounding at the base.

“Lucius.” She whispered his name and he felt it go all through him, making him tremble with need, with want. He traced the lacy edge with his fingertips, feeling the nipple pebble and press into his palm before he tugged the cup down and uncovered her. “Oh gods!” She squeaked and arched her back sharply when he feathered his touch over the hardened tips. When he pinched it gently between his thumb and forefinger she gasped and clutched at his shoulders.

“You are so…bloody incredible.” He growled, pulling her shirt up and over her chest so that he could look at her. “Oh gods…I just…I have to taste you.” He said, staring hungrily at the apricot colored nipple straining towards him, begging him. He lowered his head and traced the circumference of the tightly puckered areola with the tip of his tongue before swiping over the straining tip with the flat of his tongue.

“Oh!” She whimpered, pressing her breast forward, pressing her nipple against his lips in a plea that he could not, _would not_, ignore. He opened his mouth and sucked her tender flesh inside, drawing on her softly, gently. “It…it feels good…oh!” Her hands tangled in his hair, pressing him more tightly to her. He growled against her flesh, his hand coming up to tug on her bra and free the other breast before he switched sides, tonguing and sucking until both nipples were straining and aching and the flesh between her thighs was tight and throbbing. 

She made little sounds of protest when he eased back, recognizing his limit and stopping before he couldn’t. He covered her, pressing a soft kiss between her breasts where her heart pounded before he pulled away completely and tugged her shirt back into place.

“Why did you stop?” She whispered, her hands still tangled in his hair as he rubbed his nose alongside hers, pecking light kisses against her lips.

“Because I know when I have reached the end of my control.” He smiled and kissed her firmly. “You…you are so much more than I expected…the way you respond to me, to my touch…you make me weak.”

“W-we don’t have to stop.” She said so softly that he barely heard her. He closed his eyes and let his forehead drop against hers, a low groan escaping his lips.

“Yes, we do.” He sighed. “Much as I want you I will not be rushed and it most certainly will NOT happen on a sofa.”

“My bedroom is just down the hall…”

“You tempt me like no other.” He groaned and with a kiss to the end of her nose he rose from the sofa. “Goodnight, Hermione.” He said softly and with one last, longing glance he left through the fireplace. He kept moving, not bothering to stop even though Draco was sitting in the parlor reading as he stomped by. Oh yes, she made him feel young again alright, and he had the blue balls to prove it. Nobility was highly overrated.

****

**~@~**

Hermione couldn’t believe that he left. She had all but thrown herself at him and he _left_. She always thought that men would sleep with anyone who was willing to sleep with them. That’s what she had heard from girlfriends over the years and it was certainly what she had witnessed. So why had Lucius walked away? He wanted her, she could feel that, could see it in his eyes when he looked at her, yet still he held himself tightly in check. It was more than frustrating.

She had never been overly sexual, it was difficult to be sexual period when you had a young child, but she knew her body, she knew what she wanted, what the tight, achy feeling between her thighs meant. She was a normal, healthy young woman and she masturbated to appease her body’s desire, often it served as a way to shut her brain down so that she could fall asleep. With Lucius, however, those feelings seemed more intensified and weren’t quite appeased by the touch of her own hand. It was if the feelings he brought out in her would only be quelled by his touch and that was a problem since he kept running away. 

She looked up at the clock on the mantle and then fumbled in her pocket for her mobile phone. It was late but she knew Jessa would be up and if anyone was going to be able to help her, it would be Jessa. She smiled when she heard the answer tone on the other end of the phone.

_Where you from? You sexy thang…._ She listened, smiling and humming along until she heard the raspy purr of Jessa’s voice on the other end.

“Why aren’t you screaming beneath that gorgeous man of yours right now?” She said by way of greeting.

“Because he left.” Hermione chuckled. “That is why I am calling you…I need advice.” She heard shuffling through the phone and then the sound of a television being muted.

“Oh I have been dying for this. What do you want to know, Darling? Because I am a well of valuable, dirty information.” Hermione could just imagine Jessa’s saucy smirk and that suggestive arch of her brow. 

“How do I keep him from leaving?” She asked.

“Well…you could tie him up but I don’t think that would be appropriate since you are just starting out.” Jessa teased. “Tell me what’s been going on so I know how to guide you.”

“Ugh…well…he kisses me a lot when we are alone. I really enjoy the kissing and he will kiss me for hours it seems but then suddenly he just gets up and he leaves!” She was frowning, despite the fact that Jessa couldn’t see her facial expressions. 

“Kissing? You mean to tell me that all you have done is kiss? Hermione you are a grown ass woman and you have a walking talking fantasy for a boyfriend and all you do is _kiss_?” Jessa asked incredulously. How in the hell did Hermione keep from crawling all over him every chance she got? 

“Well…tonight there was a little more than kissing…there was some…petting.” She smiled and wriggled a little as the memories from only moments earlier heated her body anew. “But he stopped and left.”

“Did you tell him that you wanted him?” Jessa asked, knowing that in all likelihood she hadn’t.

“I told him we didn’t have to stop…I said we could go to my bedroom.” Hermione’s lips twisted in confusion. Should she have said something else?

“Well…that’s great and all but did you happen to say anything else?” Jessa asked.

“What else was I supposed to say?”

“Did you tell him that you were excited? Did you tell him that you wanted him? That he made you wet….that you wanted to feel him all over you?” 

“Uh…no…I…do you really say such things to men?” Hermione’s cheeks heated.

“Oh, Sweetie, I say whatever it is I need to in order to get what I want.” She chuckled.

“Doesn’t it embarrass you? And him?” Hermione asked.

“No, not at all. Men are rather dense, Darling. If you don’t come right out and say it they aren’t going to know. They suck at reading women, what you want, what you need. You have to **tell** them exactly what you want from them. And believe me, there is nothing they love more than for you to tell them how hot and juicy they make you.” Hermione actually cringed at Jessa’s bald statement.

“I can’t just walk up to him and say ‘Hey Lucius, you make me all hot and juicy lets get it on.’” Hermione stared into the fire wondering what he was thinking, what he was doing.

“Well not like that! That isn’t sexy.” Jessa laughed. “What goes through your head when he’s kissing you? What is your internal voice saying?”

“I’m usually thinking about how much I like the way he kisses me, how soft his lips are. Sometimes I am wishing he would touch me, wishing he would make the ache go away.” She said.

“Then tell him. When he’s kissing you, tell him how much you enjoy his kiss, tell him how much you want his touch. Tell him that he makes you wet, that he makes you ache and that you need him.” Jessa said.

“But Lucius isn’t like _normal_ men, Jessa. He is wealthy and proper and I don’t know that he would like me saying such things to him.” Hermione was pondering her friends advice but still a little unsure.

“It doesn’t matter, he’s a man , he will respond to it, I promise. Just give it a try, see what happens, if it doesn’t help then we will try something else…but it will work, I know it.” Jessa knew it would be difficult for Hermione, but she suspected that her shy attempts at seduction would excite a man like Lucius. “Trust me, Hermione, I know men, they happen to be a hobby of mine.”

“What if he rejects me?” Hermione asked nervously. 

“Then not only is he an idiot but I would begin to question his sexuality. Next time you see each other, just say what’s on your mind, keep it light and keep it simple and see where it goes.” 

“I’m seeing him day after tomorrow, he’s actually going to go with me to see Ron’s family.” Hermione said.

“Why do you make that sound so incredulous?” Jessa asked.

“Lucius’s family and Ron’s family go way back…it isn’t exactly a pleasant history. Lucius actually got into a fight with Ron’s father once when we were kids. But he is willing to try and get along for Elias. I guess we will see what happens.” Hermione sat forward and rested her elbows on her knees, the phone still pressed to her ear. “Any other advice?”

“Wear something pretty, something that invites him in without being obvious. Make sure you have on pretty underwear and say what you are thinking, let him know how he makes you feel. Men are easy, Darling. Go get him.” Jessa’s throaty chuckle made her smile.

“I’ll try.” Hermione said. “See you in the morning.”

“Night-night.” Jessa blew a kiss into the phone and the line went dead. Hermione closed her mobile and stood up. She moved through the house, setting the protective wards before she made her way to her bedroom to get ready for bed. As she climbed into her bed she realized how lonely it was to sleep alone, how sad and cold it made her feel. As she snuggled into her pillow she thought more about Jessa’s advice, determined to have Lucius sleeping beside her sooner rather than later.


	16. Lucius Makes Nice

****

** Chapter 16: Lucius Makes Nice**

_Where Lucius tries to make friends._

“Are you certain that you want to do this?” Hermione asked Lucius for the tenth time. She was standing at the kitchen sink washing Elias’s hands and face and staring at him nervously. 

“Yes, I am sure, Hermione. The Weasley’s and Potter are important to you and Elias, therefore I am willing to make the effort to become…friendly.” He probably could have said more but he was extremely distracted by the snug fit of dark denim stretched across a delectable backside. Not to mention that the scooped neckline of the slim fitting knit shirt she wore was offering him tantalizing glimpses of cleavage when she moved. She looked…edible. The dusky rose color of her shirt accented her creamy complexion and the flush of her cheeks. She had her hair down, held back from her face with a wide headband. She looked young, fresh and very beautiful, he could barely take his eyes off of her.

“I feel like I should apologize ahead of time but I don’t know why.” She said while smoothing Elias’s curls back from his face. “I’m thinking you may need a haircut, young man.”

“No, I’m going to let my hair be long like Loo-she-us. His hair is cool.” Elias said, smiling over at his favorite person.

“Yes, but Lucius has straight hair and yours is curly like mine, it makes a difference.” She said, smiling down at him.

“Don’t care, I like it.” Elias flashed her a bright smile and darted out of the kitchen. As soon as they were alone Lucius moved in close and pressed his lips against hers.

“You look so beautiful right now, it’s killing me to keep my distance.” He said between kisses.

“It’s killing me too; I like it when you are close to me.” She answered back, seizing her first opportunity to say what she was thinking and hopefully make Lucius see how she felt. She slid her hands up and over his chest, her fingertips deliberately grazing his nipples beneath the fine Egyptian cotton shirt. It was taking everything in her to keep her from blushing. She had never been so bold with a male in her life. But she had also never wanted a man like she did Lucius, the situation called for desperate measures.

“Is that right?” He asked, his eyes growing heavy and the timbre of his voice going lower and rough. “How close?” He whispered, pulling her tight against the front of him so that she couldn’t mistake his reaction to her. 

“How close can you get?” She deliberately pressed herself more tightly against him. Her hands were still resting over his pectorals which seemed extremely defined beneath his shirt. 

“Closer than you are ready for.” His low chuckle sounded evil but she thought the fact that his hands were curved over her bottom was a good sign. 

“Really? Because I sure feel ready.” She rose onto her toes, making sure to rub her breasts against him. “I feel _ready_ every time you kiss me, Lucius. It nearly undid me when you left the other night…I…I was aching so badly for you.” Her nerves were beginning to show but she was determined that she would make him see, make him want her to the point that he couldn’t leave her.

“You weren’t the only one aching, I was in pain with wanting you.” He gave the fleshy globes of her backside a gentle squeeze and ducked his head to nibble along the tight chords of her neck. She whimpered and let her head fall back, allowing him complete access and enjoying the feel of his mouth on her.

“You know…if you would have just come back to my bedroom with me neither of us would have gone to bed in pain.” She said softly, her hands coming up to twine in his hair. 

“You make me crazy.” He growled against her throat, her words were innocent and stammered in her nervousness but they affected him strongly. 

“You make me w-w-wet.” She managed to get the words out without going up in a ball of flames. His reaction, however, was more than she could have hoped for. His hands tightened on her ass and his teeth scraped her neck as he pulled her up, her feet leaving the ground as he turned and sat her on the counter. 

“You shouldn’t say things like that to me.” He slid his hands down, curling them beneath her thighs and bringing her legs around his waist as he rubbed up against her. “I am so gods damned hard right now it’s ridiculous.” He groaned as he let his lips travel up her throat to nibble along her jaw.

“I hear there is an easy remedy for that…you just have to come to my room…” His hand was gliding up her thigh and over her hip and she felt his hand tighten briefly before it began sliding beneath the hem of her tee. His hand was a bit cold when it landed on the smooth skin of her waist and she shuddered in his arms, her skin breaking out in gooseflesh. 

“What’s gotten into you, you little vixen?” he rasped into her ear before his teeth bit into the fleshy lobe gently. 

“I want you.” She answered, arching her back when his hand curved over her breast and squeezed. He had suspected that she was a passionate little thing, but he figured it would take a lot of work to get her beyond her natural sense of modesty to a point where she would let go and ride that wave of passion. Seemed he was right about the passion and wrong about the modesty part, it didn’t appear to be hindering her all that much. Though her words were stuttered and spoken with a blush to her cheeks she was making it damned clear that she wanted him. 

“Do you? How badly?” He thumbed her nipple and continued to rub his aroused shaft against the heated apex of her thighs. “Are you wet right now?” She trembled and held him closer.

“Very…Lucius, please…” She was cut off by his mouth covering hers, his tongue plunging deep into her mouth to find hers. He was a bit rough but she didn’t mind, not even when their teeth clicked together as they devoured each other’s mouths, struggling to get closer to each other.

“Are we leaving yet?” Lucius jerked away from her at the sound of Elias’s voice and walked quickly out the back door, letting the crisp air of fading autumn cool him. “Why are you sitting on the sink? Did you have a boo-boo on your knee that needs a plaster?”

“Um…no….I just…” Hermione stared at the open door and the stiff backed man standing on the porch staring out at the back garden. “I just needed to sit down…put your shoes on and we will go.” Elias let his eyes travel between them for a moment, a curious expression on his face before he turned and went to find his shoes. 

When Elias was gone Hermione slid down from the counter and went to stand in the open doorway, her arms folded around herself as she shivered from the cold. 

“Are you upset with me?” She asked softly, hoping she hadn’t crossed a line and pushed him away. She saw his shoulders shake and heard the sound of his soft laughter. He turned around slowly, his cheeks red from the cold and from desire. He came to her slowly and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her against his body. 

“No, I’m not upset with you.” He said, looking down into her upturned face. “You make me lose my head, I completely forgot that Elias was in the other room wide awake. If he hadn’t come in…if he hadn’t come in I would be inside you right now.” 

“The child has horrible timing.” Hermione muttered, a clearly disappointed expression on her face. Lucius’s laughter startled her.

“You make me smile, Hermione.” He said, cupping her chin in his hand and tilting her face up. “You and I…we are going to be so damned good together, just wait.” 

“I’m ready!” They heard the sound of their son’s voice and the clomping of running feet as Elias burst through the kitchen door wearing a pair of bright blue wellies with smiling green fish all over them. He stopped and stared at his mother and Lucius for a moment. Why were they so close?

“Those are…interesting.” Lucius said as he eased away from Hermione and walked towards their son.

“Aunt Ginny got em for me! You want some? I bet they make em in big wizard size!” Elias grinned.

“I think I’ll pass, thank you though.” Lucius said, ruffling his curls. “Shall we head to the Weasley’s?”

“I bet Nana Molly made lots of food! I never went to an arrangement party before!” 

“Engagement party.” Lucius said, looking back over his shoulder to wink at Hermione. “It’s been awhile for me as well, it should be fun.”

“Yeah, George will be there and he has the neatest stuff! He made the chicken get up off the plate and dance on Papa Arthur’s birthday! It was awesome! Are we going in your car?” There were times when Elias’s rapid topic changes made his head spin.

“Not today, I will take you for a drive soon, I promise.” Lucius said. “Alright…I am ready when you are!” He said, trying to make his smile seem as genuine as possible. He wasn’t looking forward to socializing with the Weasleys, but he would do it for them, for his family.

****

**~@~**

Lucius had never felt more out of place in his life as he stood in the sitting room of a very odd, very crooked old house. He had never seen anything like it before. Nothing seemed as if it actually went together. The house went straight up in some places, then sort of jutted out to the side in others, it seemed to defy every law of physics by even standing upright. Everything in the house seemed like it was patched together and from what he could gather from the conversations he had heard Arthur Weasley fancied himself something of an amateur tinker, though apparently not a very good one.

He had been stared at for hours by the members of the Weasley family as though they were waiting for him to leap up and hex them all. They didn’t stop staring until Potter invited him to play a game of Wizard’s Chess at which point they must have decided that he meant no harm because they went on about their business. Hermione had come to his rescue three different times when George attempted to make him the victim of one of his pranks. During dinner he had been aghast at what appeared to be a free for all as dishes moved in every direction and twenty conversations took place at once. It was chaos in it’s simplest form. 

While the atmosphere was completely out of control the meal was delicious and he felt it only polite to approach Molly and offer his compliments. He found her standing in the kitchen elbows deep in soapy water as she did the dishes. 

“I wanted to thank you for dinner, it was delicious.” He said politely as he came up beside her. Molly stopped washing the dishes and withdrew her wand, casting a washing up spell over the sink before turning to him and wiping her hands on a dishtowel. 

“Thank you.” She said, her eyes narrowed. “I must admit that I am surprised you came.”

“Hermione wanted me to and I thought it time to call a truce, for her sake and Elias’s.” Lucius suspected that he wasn’t going to get off too easily with Molly. 

“You ruined her life. You ruined her chance at a future with Ron.” She said with a frown.

“Hermione doesn’t feel as though her life was ruined by our son. I am sorry for what it did to her relationship with your son. However, I will not discuss what occurred between her and me with you.” Lucius said firmly. “I understand that you care for Elias while Hermione works.”

“He is a good boy and she is a very good mother, despite her poor judgment where men are concerned. She seems to think you have changed and should be given a second chance.” Molly crossed her arms over her ample bosom and began tapping her foot in irritation.

“You do not believe so?” 

“I have known you since you were a boy, Lucius Malfoy. A leopard doesn’t change his spots.” She said.

“I am sorry that you feel that way.” He said quietly. He should have known better. 

“Despite what happened between her and Ron, I still care very much for Hermione, I just don’t approve of her choices where you are concerned. She works hard and she has devoted herself to that little boy and somehow she manages without complaining. I will not stand for you hurting her or Elias and that is exactly what will happen when your true colors bleed through.” Molly said through clenched teeth,

“I understand how you would feel that way but you are wrong. I have changed, so much that sometimes I barely recognize myself. I care very much for Hermione and I love my son. If nothing else the fact that I am standing here letting you belittle me and my character should show you how much I care for them.” He said tightly. “I would never do anything to hurt them.”

“Her heart is tender. You and Ron are all she has known. Two very different men. You can hurt her without meaning to. Watch yourself, Lucius, because everyone else is watching you too.” Molly tossed the dishtowel onto the counter and walked away, leaving Lucius to lean against the counter and count to ten hoping to calm down before re-joining the others.

Ultimately it didn’t matter how calm he was, because he walked back into the sitting room just in time to hear Ronald Weasley telling the world’s most boring story. Unfortunately the topic inspired Elias to speak.

“So, they took us into this training room and we thought that they were gonna teach us about potions and spells to use in emergencies but instead they start teaching us muggle CPR!” He sounded somewhat horrified as he recounted his latest training in the academy. “When muggles find someone not breathing they put their mouth over the victim’s and blow air into them then they push on their chest and pump their heart for them! It’s the weirdest thing I have ever seen!”

Elias sat on the floor, his eyes wide with something akin to terror as he listened. As usual he soaked up every word like a little sponge as though it were the most interesting thing he had ever heard. Then he opened his mouth.

“Oh no!” He cried, his bottom lip quivering slightly.

“What’s wrong, Little Man?” Harry asked, laying his hand on Elias’s head and staring at him with concern.

“I think…I think my mom wasn’t breathing!” He said, turning big, watery blue eyes towards Hermione. Her confusion was written all over her face. 

“Baby, there is nothing wrong with me! Why would you think that?” She asked, kneeling down in front of him and wiping the tears from his cheeks.

“I saw it…this morning in the kitchen! Loo-she-us was breathing in your mouth and he had his hand in your shirt pushing your heart!” Elias sniffled. Hermione’s face turned such a deep shade of red that she was almost purple. Harry was pressing his lips tightly together to hold back his laughter but the others weren’t even trying. Hysterical laughter filled the room as they realized what exactly Elias had seen and misinterpreted.

“Um….Baby, I’m fine…you misunderstood.” How was she to explain what he had seen? He was too young to understand something as complicated as sex and adult relationships.

“I did? What were you doing then?” He asked. Dozens of amused eyes were all trained on her and she sought out Lucius for help. He was leaning against the door frame with a smirk on his face. 

“Um…Lucius was just showing me affection, giving me a kiss to tell me that he cares about me.” She said softly. “Nothing was wrong with me.”

“That didn’t look like a kiss, it looked like he was eating your face.” Elias scrunched his face up in an expression that was a combination of confusion and disgust.

“Well…it was a grown up kiss…they are different.” She said.

“Oh…” Elias turned towards Lucius. “You like my Mum?”

“Yes.” Lucius answered, keeping it simple and honest. 

“And you like Loo-she-us?” He asked Hermione.

“Yes.” She followed Lucius’s lead. Then, in the beautiful innocent and accepting way of a child Elias smiled and got to his feet.

“That’s cool!” He said, grinning before he darted off into the other room. Hermione closed her eyes and let her head fall as her friends continued to laugh and snicker around her.

****

**~@~**

As the furor over Elias’s little revelation died down everyone returned to the normal chaos of life in the Weasley home. Ron stood off to the side with his brother George observing Hermione and Lucius chatting across the room. She looked happy and her eyes were glittering and soft as she stared at him. It was once a look that was reserved for him…before the night that changed everything. He supposed that he was still bitter to some degree, Lucius had gotten what was meant to be his. Elias _should_ have been his but in a moment of weakness what should have been was changed. He would always regret pushing her away, if he hadn’t she wouldn’t have sought comfort from another man and the world as he imagined it would be a reality instead of an impossible dream. 

“Did you ever think you would see that?” George asked as he watched Lucius bring Hermione’s hand to his lips.

“Not even in my worst nightmares.” Ron said, shaking his head. “But…she looks happy.”

“And he looks pretty smitten with her.” George added. “He is also taken with Elias. He can’t seem to keep from smiling when he looks at him.”

“Can you believe that Elias is a Malfoy? I mean, think about it…he shares the same genes as Lucius and Draco yet there has never been a sweeter child. How in the world could something that good come from _his_ loins?” Ron jumped when he heard the back door slam. Who was going outside in the cold?

****

**~@~**

“Elias just went outside.” Hermione said, frowning as she stared at the back door. “He doesn’t have a jacket.” 

“I’ll get him.” Lucius gave her fingers a squeeze and headed towards the door. Hermione followed, curious about why their son would go outside when he knew it was against the rules to go out without an adult. She stayed by the door, watching from behind the screen as Lucius stepped out onto the back stoop of the burrow. Elias had grabbed one of Arthur’s heavy flannel barn jackets and was huddled into it as he sat on the stoop. “What are you doing out here?” Lucius asked as he sat down beside his son.

“I don’t want to be inside any more.” Elias said quietly, his little voice forlorn sounding as he stared at his shoes.

“Is there any particular reason why?” Lucius asked, glancing back over his shoulder to see Hermione stepping out behind them. She stayed quiet and just listened, wondering what was wrong, Elias loved coming to the Burrow, it was one of his favorite places filled with his favorite people.

“People are saying things…”

“Things that are bothering you?” Lucius saw him nod his head. “Do you want to talk about it? Maybe I can help you understand.”

“Uncle Ron and George…they said I was Mafoy and I came from your coins….what does that mean?” Elias asked, his little brows pulled together in a frown.

“You were eavesdropping again, weren’t you?” Lucius felt his stomach tighten and the nervous nausea rising as he saw the moment of truth approaching.

“I didn’t mean to…I was hiding under the table with the brownies.” He said sheepishly.

“Well…they said you were a _Malfoy_ and the word is loins, not coins.” What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to proceed?

“Does that mean…are you my dad?” And there it was. The question he longed to answer and feared at the same time. He looked back at Hermione and saw her standing there with her fingertips pressed to her lips, tears welling in her eyes. He raised his brows in question, waiting for her to tell him how to proceed. Her soft nod was his answer. He took a deep breath and cupped the back of his son’s head. 

“Yes…I am your dad.” The words were spoken on a rough whisper, his voice catching slightly with emotion. The truth was out, spoken aloud to the person who mattered the most in the situation and Lucius was terrified.

“Lucius, would you please take Elias home? I need to take care of something and then I will be right behind you and we will sit down and talk about this.” Hermione said, her voice hoarse with her tears. 

“You’re right.” He said, getting to his feet. “How about we talk about this at your house, where it’s warm and we can all sit down together? Your mother and I will answer all your questions, I promise.” 

Hermione watched as Lucius bent down and pulled Elias into his arms. Their son’s arms and legs going around his father and holding him tight. Her eyes met Lucius’s and she shared his anxiety over what was happening and she also shared his relief. She smiled and again nodded her head towards him just before he popped out of sight with Elias. She would tell her son the truth, but not before she took care of a little business.


	17. Freedom in Truth

****

**Chapter Seventeen: Freedom in Truth**

_Where it all comes out._

If there was one thing Ron knew without a shadow of a doubt it was a pissed off Hermione. He had been on the receiving end of her wicked temper on more than one scary occasion and from the look on her face as she barreled through the backdoor he was about to increase that number. Her eyes were narrowed and her shoulders back and she coming straight for him though for the life of him he had no idea why.

“You idiots!” She growled through clenched teeth as she cuffed both Ron and George on the side of the head, knocking their hard skulls together.

“Ouch!” They both shouted at the same time as they rubbed their abused noggins.

“What was that for?” George asked. Loud groans and whimpers of pain filled the air as Hermione pinched their earlobes between her fingers and jerked their heads down so that they were eye to eye.

“Did you happen to hear that crack of disapparation? That was Lucius taking our son home because he was too upset to stay.” Her voice was raised and her amber eyes were bright with temper. “And do you know why he was so upset? Because he overheard you two gossiping like a couple of old biddies about him being a Malfoy!”

Both men paled and their faces took on masks of guilt. Several ‘uh ohs’ and gasps sounded from the others present as they realized what it meant. Elias now knew that Lucius was his father. It was always meant that she and Lucius would tell him when they felt he was ready to hear it and able to understand but instead he overhears it from a couple of careless words spoken by friends. She gave their lobes an extra hard squeeze and then shoved them away from her, afraid that she just might hex them she was so angry.

“Mione…I…I’m sorry….I didn’t think he was nearby….I…we never….we would never do anything to hurt Elias, we love him!” Ron stammered. He understood why she was angry.

“You know that he hears everything, you know the rule! We never, ever speak of it unless you know exactly where he is!” She balled her fists and growled in frustration. “I have to go. Thanks to you two I have to go home now and explain to my four year old son that the stranger who came into our lives a couple of months ago is his father. I have no idea how I am going to make him understand the unusual circumstances surrounding his birth!”

“I’m sorry…really I am.” Ron said softly, moving forward to stand in front of her. “I would never hurt you or him in a million years.”

“I’m sorry too….but maybe it’s a good thing.” George said. “Elias is the brightest little kid I have ever seen. He is wise and clever and I think he understands so much more than you give him credit for. Just be honest with him, within reason of course, and it will be fine.” She knew he meant well, that he was offering her comfort and encouragement but she couldn’t see beyond her anger.

“You know what, George? That doesn’t make me feel any better! This is MY son, MY story to tell when I felt the time was right and I trusted you all to be careful with my son, trusted you all to respect my family and respect my choices. Now look….my son is hurt and confused and my…_my_ wizard feels disrespected and unwelcome. I’ve got to go.” She said, turning her back on them. “I’m sorry to run out on a party and I apologize for the drama.” She said softly. “Harry, you and Ginny owl me when you get back from your trip.” They were essentially eloping though it wasn’t a secret. She didn’t wait for them to answer and wasn’t so certain that she wanted to hear anything anyone had to say at that moment. So she simply walked out the backdoor, not bothering to stop walking as she disapparated onto the front porch of her own home. She hesitated before going inside, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. 

When she finally did go inside she found Lucius sitting on the sofa beside Elias, already dressed in his pajamas and waiting for her. The expectant look on her son’s face and the nervous expression on Lucius’s made her stomach tighten and a wave of nausea wash over her, threatening to take her under.

“Why don’t I make us some tea and some cocoa for Elias before we talk?” She said softly as she walked by them. She was stalling, she knew it and Lucius knew it too but he let her go. She needed to get it together and be strong for Elias, strong so that she could support Lucius. She returned a few minutes later carrying a tray of mugs, her nerves calmed only slightly. 

Once everyone had been served she sat cross-legged on the floor at Lucius’s feet and smiled softly at her son. It was a day she both dreaded and longed for, the day when her lies and withholding would be revealed, the day when she would have to openly admit her mistakes and the day she would “officially” have to share her son.

“Alright, Baby, ask your questions, anything you want to know we will answer as best we can.” She prompted. Elias picked a marshmallow out of his mug, his little brows drawn together as his brain began to form questions.

“Did you know Lucius was my dad?” he asked innocently.

“Of course I did.” She smiled at his innocence. “Baby, before we go further why don’t you tell us what you know about how babies are made.” His answer would help her determine the explanation she was certain she would have to give.

“Mummies and Daddies sleep in the same bed and then the Mummy gets real fat and a baby comes.” He said. “Did you sleep in the same bed and get fat?”

“Your mother and I knew each other a long time ago, Elias, when your mother was at Hogwarts.” Lucius said quietly. “I did sleep in her bed, once. But then I had to leave.”

“Oh…you didn’t want a little boy?” Elias asked, his sweet vulnerability nearly made Hermione weep. “Is that why you went away?”

“Oh no!” Lucius’s voice was soft yet strained as he reached for Elias and pulled him into his lap. “That isn’t it at all. I couldn’t ask for a better little boy than you, Elias. I didn’t know that we had made you when I went away and I was in a place where your mother couldn’t reach me so she couldn’t tell me about you. It wasn’t until I came back and found your mother that I learned that I had a little boy.”

“Far away? Were you at ass-can?” He asked, his eyes wide.

“Elias, that isn’t a polite question.” Hermione scolded gently. How in the world did he know of such a place? No doubt it was one more thing he had learned from the boys. They liked to regale Elias with tales of the war and their own heroism. 

“I don’t want to lie to you, Elias, I always want to be honest with you. Yes, I was in _Azkaban_, though I think you said it best.” Lucius’s smile was a little sad. Hermione knew that it couldn’t have been easy for him to admit his imprisonment to a child who adored him and know that with his admission he risked losing the boy’s love, trust and respect.

“What did you do? Were you very bad?” Elias was awed by this news. “Did you see the detempters?”

“Dementors. And yes, I was very bad and I made very bad decisions for my life.” Lucius said.

“Were you a dead deer?” He asked.

“Death eater.” Hermione said.

“That’s what I said.” Elias responded. “Were you?”

“That was the worst of my bad choices.” Lucius answered. He sat in silence while Elias stared at him for several long moments and then reached for his hand and fumbled with the buttons on his shirt cuff. Lucius understood what he wanted to see so he sat still and allowed his son to uncover the brand that would always remind him of the evil he once perpetrated.

“Elias!” Hermione was horrified at her son’s boldness. What in the world had the boys been telling him? How did he know about the dark mark and why did he want to see it?

“It’s alright, Darling, let him see.” Lucius said as Elias slowly pushed the sleeve up to stare at the slightly faded black mark on his arm. Tiny, innocent fingers traced the skull and serpent and Lucius could almost swear that he felt something inside him change and lighten, as though something broken were being healed again. 

“Does it hurt?” Elias whispered.

“Not anymore.” Lucius said. “Are you disappointed?” He asked brokenly.

“Are you sorry?” Elias asked, looking up and tilting his little head to side.

“Yes.”

“Mum says that doing bad things can be forgived sometimes if you are really sorry. So if you are sorry then you are forgived. It’s okay.” Elias reached out and touched his face, tilting his head back and moving his hair out of they way. “My eyes are like yours.”

“Yes, they are.” Lucius smiled as the child examined his face more closely.

“I look like you, don’t I?” He asked, his little finger sliding over the cleft in Lucius’s chin.

“Yes, you do…but you look even more like my other son, Draco, your brother.” Lucius said without really thinking about it. He hadn’t meant to overwhelm Elias with a father and a brother.

“A brother? I have a brother?” He needn’t have worried as Elias’s face lit up with the news. “Mum, I have a brother!” 

“I know you do.” She was worried that he was taking it so well and feared that he didn’t really understand what was taking place, the importance of what he just learned. “I know Draco Malfoy fairly well…at least I did once.”

“Mafoy…Uncle Ron said I was a Mafoy but my name is Elias Granger.” 

“_Mal_foy.” Lucius said enunciating clearly and stressing the L. “Your name is Granger because I was unavailable to sign the appropriate documents at your birth. It is my hope that we can change that when you are ready.” 

“Elias Malfoy.” He rolled it around in his mouth, his lips pursed as he pondered the sound of it. “That sounds cool!” he said grinning.

“I’m glad you think so.” Lucius chuckled. He was so relieved that Elias was taking it so well, relieved that he didn’t see hatred or disgust in the child’s eyes when he learned the truth of his past.

“Elias, Baby, do you understand what this all means? Do you understand what we have just told you?” Hermione asked. Elias looked down at her, his head tilted to the side.

“Yes…I understand. Loo-she-us is my dad…he slept in your bed and then had to go to ass-can and when he came back he found us.” Elias frowned and turned back to Lucius. “Do you want another little boy? Do you like me being your little boy?”

The question was like taking a blow directly to the chest. Lucius had to catch his breath while Hermione had to hold back a sob. It hurt to hear the uncertainty in his little voice. She never wanted him to ever doubt how much he was loved, how much he was wanted and there he sat, perched on his father’s lap asking if he was wanted, asking his father if he wanted him. It was breaking her heart and was almost more than she could bear.

“Oh yes, I definitely want another little boy and I wouldn’t want it to be anyone but you.” Lucius said quietly as he laid his head on Elias’s golden curls. “I like it very much that you are my little boy.”

“And you won’t go away again? You won’t be a dead deer and make bad choices no more?” He asked.

“No, my _death eater_ days are over and I try to make only good choices now.” Lucius said earnestly. “I don’t want to be away from you and your mother again. I am here to stay.”

“Do I still have to call you Loo-she-us?” He asked.

“You may call me what you like, Son.” Lucius smoothed his hand over Elias’s head, knowing that the little boy had already thought about it and that made him smile. “I take it you have something in mind?” 

“Daddy…is that okay?” Elias asked softly, biting his lip the way his mother did when she was nervous. His stomach flipped and he swallowed against the lump in his throat. 

“That would be…wonderful.” It was more than wonderful, it made him want to cry and he didn’t understand it. He really was turning into a woman emotionally. Draco had always called him Father from the time he could speak. There was something warm and fuzzy about being called Daddy that appealed to him. Elias smiled and then yawned, his eyes going sleepy after a long, long day. “How about we skip the story tonight and get you tucked in? It’s been a long day.” 

Elias nodded and slipped off of his lap, shuffling on bare feet to his mother for his goodnight hug and kiss. 

“I love you, Baby, more than anything else in the entire world.” She said, squeezing him tightly until he grunted. She didn’t want to let him go but knew that he was sensitive to her emotions and she didn’t want to stress him. He was taking the news of his parentage so well and she didn’t want him to see the agony it was causing her.

“Love you.” Elias said sleepily into her shoulder before pulling back and shuffling down the hall with Lucius right behind him. Lucius barely got the quilt pulled back before Elias curled up onto the pillow and tucked his hands beneath his cheek. 

“Goodnight, Elias.” Lucius said as he covered him up and squatted at his bedside. “ Are you alright?”

“Did you know I wished you were my dad?” His voice was sleepy and his words slightly slurred. “Sometimes when we went places I would pretend you were my dad.”

“No need to pretend anymore, I am very proud to be your dad.” Lucius said hoarsely, still smiling. “Sleep tight.”

“Night…Daddy.” He yawned again and closed his eyes which Lucius was grateful for because he didn’t want him to see the tears that were beginning to sting his eyes. He turned out the light and stepped into the hall, closing the door behind him. As he turned he found himself with an arm full of witch, her face pressed into the center of his chest as she cried.

“Why are you crying? I think that it went remarkably well.” He said, gently rubbing her back.

“Too well, it makes me nervous. I’m glad it’s over but gods it hurt like hell to hear him asking you if you wanted him.” She sniffed. 

“I hope that he never doubts it again.” He said, holding her close. “It’s late…”

“Don’t go.” She whispered, tightening her arms around him.

“Hermione….”

“We don’t have to make love, just … I don’t want to be alone. Please?” She pleaded.

“I could sleep on your sofa, I suppose.” He said, twining a curl around his finger.

“You could sleep with me. I have a double bed.” She began pushing against him, urging him to walk backwards a few steps. She kept one arm around his waist as she reached out and turned the knob on her bedroom door, shoving it open. “I trust you.”

“I’m not so certain that you should.” He mumbled as she took his hand and pulled him into her bedroom. She whispered a spell and her bedside lamps lit, illuminating the small bedroom. Light blue walls were set off by white painted furniture that crowded the small room. A floral coverlet in shades of blue, white and yellow covered the bed and was littered with blue and yellow pillows. It was soft, feminine and pure, much like the woman who slept there.

“You know where the bathroom is…if you want to shower or…anything before bed.” She said as she turned the coverlet down and reached beneath her pillow for her pajamas. “I’ll be right back.” She said, disappearing across the hall into the bathroom. 

Lucius sat on the side of her bead and took a deep breath, exhaling forcefully. He wasn’t quite sure how he ended up in her bedroom. He was fully prepared to argue the folly of sharing a bed with her but somehow wound up following her into her bedroom like some sort of horny zombie who just couldn’t refuse. She was emotionally wrung out and so was he, making love was definitely not in the cards but it still didn’t make the idea of sharing a bed with her any easier to process. He toed off his shoes as he argued with himself, his thoughts at war with his actions. He bent over and removed his socks, folding them and putting them inside his shoes. 

He emptied his pockets and laid his things on her bedside table, thinking how strange the masculine paraphernalia looked on her lacy doily. By the time she returned, flipping off the lights in the hall, he was down to his boxers and sleeveless undershirt, reclining against the pillows with the coverlet pulled up to his waist. She paused inside the doorway, a shy smile on her freshly scrubbed face. She looked so…young…in her cotton tank and loose fitting sleep pants. She was holding his cane in her hand.

“I thought you might want this near by since your wand is inside.” She said, leaning it against her nightstand. 

“Thank you.” He said hoarsely, watching her walk around the foot of the bed to the other side and crawl in beside him. “Hermione….I haven’t slept with a woman…well…let’s just say that you were the last intimate contact I had…this may be a mistake.”

“We are both tired, it has been a draining day. I know that nothing will happen that I don’t want.” She curled up on her side facing him and he slid down into the bed to be at eye level. “I want to make love with you, Lucius, but I don’t want to be exhausted when it happens and I certainly don’t want it to be a reaction to a stressful situation like the first time and if we made love now that would be part of it. Just sleep beside me and hold me. Please?”

“How can I say no to that?” He asked, moving his arm so that she could come closer and rest her head on his shoulder.

“I wish you would stop saying no to me.” She yawned and snuggled closer. “One day soon you won’t be able to run away from me. Jessa suggested I tie you up.”

“Did she now?” He chuckled, pulling the coverlet up over them and wrapping his arms around her and letting the fresh scent of her soap envelope him. “That won’t be necessary, I want to make love to you, Hermione, you have no idea how much. I just don’t want there to ever be regret.”

“Never.” She said sleepily. “I don’t regret the first time, Lucius. I could never regret something that brought me Elias. The only regret I will ever have regarding us is that you thought you hurt me for so long.” She snuggled closer, her hand fisting in the cotton undershirt right over his heart. “No…don’t worry about regret, there wont be any of that with us.”

“My only regret is that I didn’t make it good for you. But I promise that I will make up for that. I promise to stop running from you, Darling, but you can put the restraints in a file for later if you like.” He teased, his eyes slowly closing.

“Mmmmhmmm … I always knew you were a little kinky.” She mumbled. His sleepy chuckle was the last thing she heard before slipping off into the arms of Morpheus.


	18. In the Hazy Light of Dawn

****

**Chapter Eighteen: in the Hazy Light of Dawn**

_Where Hermione and Lucius take a big step._

For the first time in a very long time, Lucius didn’t jerk awake on a silent scream. He slowly climbed out of sleep like a man swimming through molasses, the way he had before the dark lord, before prison, before the world as he knew it came crashing down around him. He still expected to wake and find himself surrounded by dank, cold stone walls in filthy rags on a threadbare mat with no blanket to block out the cold. Instead, when he finally opened his eyes he saw that he was in a very small bedroom. He blinked rapidly a few times before he processed where he was. He was warm and surprisingly comfortable as the dim light of morning began creeping through the lacy curtains on the small window.

A soft moan sounded from beside him and just as he turned his head Hermione rolled towards him. She draped her arm over his chest and cuddled up against him, nuzzling against his shoulder. She opened her eyes and smiled. She looked so soft and sleepy with her flushed cheeks and lazy gaze. His semi-erection went from standard morning wood to full on arousal in seconds with a simple look.

“Mmmm…it’s early.” She said, her voice raspy and low.

“We went to bed rather early last night.” Did he really just say something that stupid? He wanted to slap himself for his ignorance, surely he hadn’t forgotten how to talk to a woman he wanted.

“Good morning, Lucius, I’m glad that you stayed.” She sighed and rubbed her cheek against him, her arm tightening around his torso. 

“I’m glad I stayed too.” He swallowed hard and curled his arm around her shoulders. 

“Um…Lucius?” Her voice was soft and slightly broken.

“Yes?” He was staring at the ceiling, enjoying the feel of a woman in his arms.

“Is that for me?” She asked.

“Is what….Oh…” He glanced down and saw the “tent” in the blankets. “Well…it’s pretty normal for mornings though maybe not quite that enthusiastic…so yes, I would say that it is definitely for you.” Could the conversation have taken a more awkward turn?

“Can I see it?” She actually squeaked the request more than anything else. He wanted to laugh, the situation was ridiculous. He was lying in her bed, hard as stone and she was asking if she could see his penis. So why _wasn’t_ he laughing? Why was his cock twitching and dancing beneath the blankets as though celebrating a brilliant idea?

“If you want.” He croaked. He felt like a moron. He had always done well with women. He was charming and smooth, never at a loss for the right words to seduce. So what was it about her that made him awkward and borderline retarded? He took a deep breath as she gingerly pushed the coverlet down to observe his randy member covered in grey knit.

“I took you for a silk boxers kind of wizard.” She said as she observed the long column of flesh straining against the cotton.

“These are softer.” He was going to go up in flames. It was ridiculous, he hadn’t even been that nervous his first time, he had had numerous women since then, he knew what to do, what to expect…at lest he thought he did before Hermione, with her everything was different. She made it new and exciting and she made him nervous and determined to please her. It was a lot of pressure to be under for a woman who really had no idea what to expect of him. All she knew of sex was a quick, unsatisfying tumble on a ruined sofa, yet he still felt the pressure. Perhaps it was to exceed his own expectations?

His thoughts quickly went south, centered in the brain that thought of nothing but taking her, being buried inside her completely. Curious fingers were tugging his undershirt up and her soft palm landed against his lower abdomen. He tried to stay relaxed as she swirled her fingertips in the thin trail of golden hair around his navel but it wasn’t easy. He wanted to clasp her wrist and push her hand lower but he resisted and remained still beneath her exploration.

His stomach muscles tightened as she slid her hand beneath the waistband, her fingers threading through the thatch of curls crowning his groin. He was holding his breath only able to release it when her fingers curled around his shaft and she slowly took his measure. She touched him from base to tip, slowly dragging her fingers over his sensitive flesh and making his cock throb and jerk beneath her caress.

“Do you…would you take them off?” She asked, her heart racing and her breath coming in pants. She didn’t release his shaft as he reached down and pushed the underwear off of his hips, freeing the object of her interest. He heard her sharp intake of breath and waited patiently for her response. “Oh…wow.” She said breathlessly, still stroking him slowly, gently. With a touch so light and so tender that it nearly tickled she retracted his foreskin and revealed his plumy tip. Her curious nature was both a nuisance and a godsend as she dipped her fingers into the thick drops of fluid beginning to leak from the tip and spread it around the sensitive crown. 

“Hermione?” He croaked, swelling and twitching beneath her fingers. “You’re killing me, Darling.”

“What do I do?” She asked softly. She moved onto her knees, still holding him in her grasp as she straddled his legs. “Show me.” She looked beautiful hovering over him as she was, her cheeks flushed and her hair a little messy and wild from sleep. He wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to but he hurt, he wanted to come and he wanted it to be at her hand, not his. He reached over for his cane still leaning against the nightstand and withdrew his wand. He pointed it at her hand and his shaft whispering a lubricating spell over them both before he tossed his wand onto the floor beside her bed. 

She watched in awe as he wrapped his fingers around hers, tightening her hold on his cock and slowly sliding her hand up and down the long, thick length of him. She couldn’t take her eyes away, fascinated by the way the tip swelled and darkened in color. He was throbbing against her palm, his pulse pounding in the purple veins that ran the length and circumference of his penis. His stomach tightened and relaxed and his testicles twitched and bounced below. He was breathing hard, groaning and grunting with every stroke of their twined hands. 

She felt his thighs tighten beneath her and he lifted his hips unconsciously, thrusting through their grip. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut and he was beginning to sweat, a fine sheen of perspiration forming on his forehead and above his top lip. It was intoxicating to watch and know that he was responding to her, taking pleasure in _her_. Her eyes went back to the stiff flesh in her hand and once more she became fixated on the purplish, spongy tip. He would react with more intensity when she touched it so she brought her other hand up to stroke and tease his crown. He groaned loudly and swore, his hips thrusting in erratic jerks. 

She licked her lips, wondering what he would feel like against them, what he would taste like. She had listened, embarrassed the entire time, to Jessa describe the act in vivid detail, even going as far as to demonstrate on a banana from her lunch, she had been curious then and now that she actually had a man’s penis in her hand she was even more curious. She licked her lips again and bent at the waist to run her tongue over the hot, flushed tip tasting his salty essence.

“Oh gods!” His eyes snapped open to watch her wrap her lips around his head and suck, the tight wet heat of her mouth was too much and he grabbed her hair with his free hand and pulled her away. “Please…” he whimpered. She looked so disappointed that he would have laughed had his balls not been pulling up tight to his body and twitching with impending release. “I can’t…not now….too much.” He sped up his guiding hand, tightening her hold on him further as her slippery hand moved easily over the velvety flesh. “I’m coming…” He growled, his entire body stiffening and his muscles quivering as he felt his semen bubbling up in his balls and moving through his shaft before ejecting from the tip in sharp, sticky spurts, his creamy seed landing on his lower belly and dribbling over her hand. She continued to stroke him through his release, amazed to witness his ejaculation. 

“Oh my.” She whispered as he groaned and his body relaxed into the mattress. “Was that…I mean…did that feel…good?” She asked nervously, reaching for the box of tissues at her bedside and wiping up the sticky mess. She felt his laughter before she heard it, his body jerking and trembling beneath her. “Ahhh!” She squealed when he suddenly sat up and wrapped his arms around her, rolling her onto her back and settling her beneath the heavy weight of his body, his shorts still wrapped around his thighs.

“You innocent…amazing…sweet witch.” He said just before his lips came down on hers. He kissed her as if he were intent on devouring her. His lips, teeth and tongue taking full possession. She had expected him to be sleepy, that’s what Jessa and Ginny said about men after sex but he seemed to be rather charged and despite having found release at her hand he was full and firm against her thigh. He released her lips, raking his teeth over the bottom one as he rose up, sitting back on his heels and pulling her into a sitting position. “Off, now.” He growled, reaching for the hem of her cotton tank and yanking it unceremoniously over her head and tossing it aside. 

The look on his face was nothing short of wild as he urged her backwards and tugged on her loose fitting bottoms and sent them sailing over the side with her top. Her eyes were wide as she half reclined there before him completely naked. The sight of all her smooth, creamy skin calmed him some because he wrapped his fingers around her ankles and very slowly slid his hands up her legs. 

“Beautiful.” One word was all he could manage as his eyes followed the journey of his hands up her body. Smooth rounded thighs made him long to feel them wrapped around him. Nice, full hips were a perfect cradle for his. Her small nipped in waist was a delightful curve to follow on his way to the perfection of her breasts. He leaned over her, kneeling between her thighs as he did, uncaring that she was blushing furiously. He cupped her breasts, kneading and squeezing the firm globes gently. Her nipples peaked, hardening, the areolas drawing tight. He took them between his fingers, plucking and rolling them, stroking them with a feather light touch that had her arching her back and breathing heavily.

The rough sound he made was a cross between a moan and a growl as he slid one of his big hands around her to the center of her back and arched her further as he lowered his head and began laving her nipples with his tongue. She watched every stroke of his pink tongue over her flesh and felt her arousal grow to nearly painful proportions. The delta between her thighs was hot, wet and swollen, spasms flittering through her channel when he wrapped his lips around her and suckled. 

He serviced her breasts until her nipples were practically sore and she was nothing more than a quivering mass of need and want. Finally he lifted his head, staring at nipples that were red and wet from him mouth with smug satisfaction. He laid his hand against her stomach and she jolted, whimpering and lifting her hips towards him unconsciously. 

“Lucius?” His name escaped her lips on a desperate whisper as his touch feathered over her belly then along the creases where thigh met pelvis as he sat back on his heels once more. She was still propped up on her elbows, staring at him staring at her. It was embarrassing to have him looking so intently between her thighs, his head tilted to the side slightly. He laid his palms on the insides of her thighs and pushed them wider, opening her to him like the petals of a flower. A VERY dewy, pink flower and he was like a hummingbird that couldn’t resist the nectar. 

She nearly screamed when he ran a single fingertip down her slit, bumping over the turgid clit and dragging along the sensitive skin before dipping into the pool of desire at her opening. His eyes lifted for a moment and caught hers, stunning her with the fierce intensity burning in their depths before his attention once more went south to her sex. 

“You are nearly bare.” He croaked, tracing the perfectly defined edges of her small triangle of brown curls. 

“The spa…they waxed me...all but that little bit.” She rasped as he tugged gently on the soft curls.

“I like it.” He reached out with one hand, his palm over the little patch of hair, and used his thumb and forefinger to part the plump petals of her sex. She watched, shocked to see another’s fingers on her most private parts and even more shocked that she was allowing it, craving it in fact. With his other hand he gently circled her opening with his fingertip, slowly easing the digit inside her a little at a time. She gasped and flinched slightly, lifting up further so she could watch his penetration. It was an odd feeling, when she touched herself she only rubbed her clit, she never penetrated her body. It felt foreign but decidedly good. He eased another finger in alongside the first and slowly began pumping her, sliding his fingers in and out of her with careful strokes.

“I think it’s a damn good thing I didn’t remember this.” He said hoarsely. “You are so slick…so tight and hot….if I had remembered this I might have tried to escape and find you.” 

“Oh gods….Lucius…” She was torn between trying to move away from the unfamiliar fullness of his invasion and urging him to further his caress. His thumb joined in the play, pressing into the tight nub of her clit and stroking, increasing her pleasure a thousand fold. Every breath was punctuated by a tiny whimper as her chest heaved. Her thighs began to quiver and her belly tightened as the heat built and the pressure coiled tighter and tighter. 

“I can feel you quivering around my fingers.” He said low. “Don’t fight it, let go, let go for me, my Darling.” When she did, when she closed her eyes and arched her back, a silent scream trapped in her throat as her body pulsed and quivered around his touch it was the most beautiful thing he had witnessed in his entire life. Never had another woman looked so absolutely perfect in her abandonment as Hermione. He had been with women far more beautiful, far more sophisticated and worldly but none of that could compare with the innocent and real response, the raw emotion and unbridled passion he experienced in her was beyond compare. No other witch would ever do for him, he was lost.

She fell back onto the mattress, her eyes half opened as her body shook in the aftershocks of the most intense orgasm she had ever experienced.

“It doesn’t feel nearly as good when I do it.” She said innocently, watching as he withdrew his slippery fingers and rubbed her creamy essence on the tip of his revived erection.

“It won’t feel even half as good if anyone other than me is _doing it_.” He drawled huskily. He grabbed her hips and lifted her, sliding her onto his thighs at an angle. He grasped his tumescent length at the base and rubbed his tip between the swollen lips of her sex, settling it into the notch of entrance. “If it’s no say so now.” He rasped.

“Yes…I want this, I want you….take me.” She whispered. He had barely inched forward when he heard it, the distinctive sound of little bare feet on hard wood floors.

“Gods damn it!” He growled, jerking away from her and scrambling for his wand. Hermione was confused as she watched him hurriedly casting spells that had them tidied up and redressed in seconds.

“Lucius? What is going on?” Her answer burst through the door before she even finished the question.

“Mum! I couldn’t find you and I want some breakfast!” He shouted as he skidded into the room. He stopped, his eyes wide when he saw Lucius sitting in the bed beside his mother. “Daddy!”

“Erm…good morning, Elias.” Lucius wasn’t sure how to react, Draco would never have come into his bedchamber. Ever. Of course he hadn’t shared a room with Narcissa so he never would have been caught with a painful, unsatisfied erection at any rate. 

“You slept in Mum’s bed!” His smile took up his entire face as he leapt onto the bed and walked clumsily across the mattress before finally falling into Lucius’s abdomen. It knocked the wind out of him and definitely knocked the wood from his wand.

“Elias, be careful! You hurt your father.” Hermione said grabbing him and settling him in between them.

“Sorry.” He said sheepishly. Lucius gave him a tight smile and nod, his hand absently rubbing his stomach.

“Its fine, Elias. What brings you in here so early?” Lucius asked.

“Mum wasn’t in the kitchen and I’m hungry and couldn’t find breakfast.” He pouted. “Why did you sleep in Mum’s bed?”

“Well…”

“Your father and I are…well, we are together, Elias. We are a couple…like Harry and Ginny and George and Angelina. Do you know what that means?” Hermione asked, though she was looking over his head at Lucius whose slight smile was making her feel warm and tingly. 

“Yes…are you gonna miss your parade now?” He asked. Hermione and Lucius looked at each other and the laughter was unavoidable. Elias wasn’t sure what he was laughing at but he joined in with his parents anyway and the little house was filled with the sounds of a laughing family.


	19. That's My Brother

****

**Chapter Nineteen: That’s My Brother**

_Where Elias meets his big brother._

Hermione sat in her small office, a large shopping bag at her feet and an iced coffee in her hand. Jessa was sitting on top of her desk, her leg extended as she stared at her brand new shoes, a pair of ice pick heels that looked deadly. Jessa was still a mystery to Hermione in many ways. She never seemed to question the fact that she never went to Hermione’s home though Hermione had been to Jessa’s flat several times. She didn’t wonder about Hermione’s friends, especially Ron who often forgot himself in muggle places and would say something that sounded odd to anyone outside of the magical world. 

What she found especially odd was that Jessa didn’t question her about Lucius’s background. He was obviously wealthy; he flaunted that in ways that were unmistakable to both wizard and muggle. But she never asked what it was he did or where he had been for those first years of Elias’s life. Most people asked those sorts of things.

“You know, you never talk about your family, Jessa.” Hermione observed. She noticed that there weren’t photos in her flat of family, only a few of her with friends. 

“That’s because there is nothing to talk about.” Jessa shrugged and reached into the box for the other shoe. “Mum was young when she had me. Dad was from a pur…an aristocratic family who thought she was good enough to share his bed but not his name so he hightailed it out of town as soon as he found out she was pregnant. Mum died when I was twenty and….well, Dad’s family is better not spoken of.” 

“I didn’t mean to upset you.” Hermione said softly. Jessa looked sad and a bit nervous as she slipped the other stiletto onto her foot and fastened the buckle. 

“It’s alright, Dearest, just suffice it to say that I don’t come from the best place. I would rather forget it.” She said, smiling softly.

“Fair enough.” Hermione looked down at her bags and felt the wave of buyer’s remorse. “You are a bad influence on me.”

“Nonsense, you bought yourself two outfits and a nightie and spent the rest of the money on new clothes for Elias. That’s hardly overindulging.” Jessa laughed. “Are you excited?”

“I’m nervous. Elias is meeting his older brother for the first time and I haven’t stepped foot in that house in a long, long time. I don’t know what to expect.” She said softly. 

“Lucius asked you to sleep over?” Jessa waggled her brows.

“Yes, he did, he wants Elias to get familiar with his heritage.” She said, drumming her fingers on the desk.

“Nonsense, he wants you in his house because he has servants to take care of Elias so that you are comfortable that he is being tended to, close by, and he can have you all to himself without worrying that the little man is going to cock block him again!” Jessa was laughing hysterically. 

“Very funny.” Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed her bags. “I need to get home, I have to get ready and I have to get Elias ready, Lucius likes to dress for dinner.” 

“And I’m sure he plans to undress for dessert.” Jessa winked and jumped down off the desk. “Go on, enjoy your weekend, I’ll lock up.” 

“I’ll see you Monday.” Hermione said, one arm thrown around her friends shoulders as she hugged her. 

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Jessa called. Hermione stopped in the doorway and looked back over her shoulder.

“Is there anything you wouldn’t do?” She asked.

“No…I do it all and if I had a man like yours I’d do it again and again.” 

****

**~@~**

“You know, that rug you are pacing a hole into is about two hundred years old and irreplaceable.” Draco quipped as he watched his father move nervously from one end of the room to the other. He hadn’t seen his father so agitated since the war when every moment was lived in fear of the Dark Lord. It seemed the he had it pretty bad for the little muggle witch and their half-blood progeny.

“Hush, Draco. Your poking fun at me isn’t helping matters.” Lucius sniped, fidgeting with his robes. He knew he was amusing his son and had their roles been reversed he would probably be taking the piss out of Draco, but none the less, it wasn’t easing his nerves in the slightest bit.

“I don’t know why you are getting yourself all worked up, you spend almost every night with them, why is tonight so different?” Draco also felt a bit nervous. He and Hermione didn’t exactly have a past that was all rainbows and daisies. Add that to the fact that he was meeting his brother for the first time and he too could lay claim to a bit of the bubble guts.

“Because I want them to like it here.” Lucius answered, stopping in front of the window to stare out into the darkness. “This house is part of Elias’s heritage, it is where his history comes from, and I want it to be a home for him. And Hermione…well I just don’t want to hurt her with bad memories. You remember what happened the last time she was here don’t you?” Lucius closed his eyes as the horror of seeing her young body tortured flitted through his mind.

“I try not to think about those times if I can help it.” Draco said quietly, the merriment gone from his eyes. 

“I don’t want you to either. I wish you had never seen the things you have. I don’t want this to be a place of evil; I don’t want this house to hurt those who dwell within.” He heard the soft rumble of the floo being accessed. Draco got to his feet and stood beside his father, both of them with shoulders back and nervous eyes trained on the hearth.

Those few seconds seemed to stretch on for hours before a head full of sandy curls poked out of the darkened hearth and looked around. Elias’s smile was broad when he saw his father and his body quickly followed his head as he darted out of the fireplace, his brand new robes billowing behind him as he ran full speed across the parlor and jumped into Lucius’s arms.

“Daddy!” Lucius swung the little boy up into his arms, laughing with joy to hear him calling him Daddy. Would he ever tire of it?

“Hello, Elias.” Lucius smiled, letting the little boy squeeze his neck. 

“I got new robes!” He said when he pulled back. 

“You look very handsome.” Lucius chuckled. 

“He was very difficult actually in Madame Malkin’s shop. He kept telling her that her clothes made his bum itch so he now has robes lined with jersey knit quidditch pajamas.” Lucius looked over Elias’s shoulder to see Hermione walking towards him. She looked stunning in a set of deep purple robes and matching heels, her glossy curls pulled back from her face with a matching headband. “Good evening, Lucius.” She said quietly when she reached him. 

He set Elias back onto the floor and without thinking he leaned down to kiss her lips gently.

“Hello, Darling.” He said.

“Ahem.” Draco cleared his throat, smirking all the while he watched his father.

“Good evening, Draco, how are you?” She blushed furiously and avoided making eye contact.

“Very good, thank you. You look nice, Granger.” He said politely. She visibly started in reaction to the first nice thing Draco Malfoy had ever said to her.

“Um…thank you.” She said, her flush deepening. Lucius laid his hand on Elias’s shoulder and steered him around until he was standing directly in front of Draco.

“Draco, this is Elias.” Lucius said hoarsely. He watched Draco’s face as he slowly squatted down to Elias’s level. He was staring at the little boy intensely, taking in every detail, every little feature, and every little recognizable trait and for a moment Lucius worried that he might reject him.

“Hello, Elias. I am Draco Malfoy; I’m your big brother.” He said, cocking his head to the side and smiling.

“Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron sometimes talk about Dildo Malfoy, do you know him?” Elias asked. Hermione groaned and closed her eyes tightly and Lucius chuckled.

“I see the Weasel and Pothead are just as funny as ever.” Draco drawled. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” He said, choosing to ignore the prior inquiry. 

“We came for dinner. Mum said I have to be on my best behavior.” Elias frowned a little. “Do you have a wife?”

“Uh…no, I don’t….do you?” Draco asked.

“No!” Elias laughed loudly, his deep belly laugh so uncharacteristic of a small child that it had the adults smiling in amusement. “But Daddy slept in Mum’s bed.” The laughter stopped and Hermione covered her face.

“He did? Well, I’m not sure you should be telling people that, it’s a bit personal.” Draco said, arching a brow at his flushing father.

“Oh…like a secret?” Elias asked.

“Yes, something like that. Are you hungry?” Draco asked.

“YES! I’m so hungry I could eat a whore.” He said dramatically.

“_Horse_, Elias, I am so hungry I could eat a HORSE.” Lucius corrected, shaking his head and using his eyes to tell Draco not to laugh.

“That’s what I said!” Elias looked around him at the adults as though they had all lost their minds. “Where is the kitchen?”

“I…I don’t really know.” Draco answered.

“We have a dining room where we take our meals, Elias. We don’t eat in the kitchen here.” Lucius explained.

“If you don’t know where the kitchen is how is Mum gonna make our dinner?” Elias asked.

“We have house elves for that.” Draco rose to his full height and shouted for a servant. A small elf wearing a bright red dishcloth wrapped around him appeared. “Bob, this is Elias, he wanted to see who was making our dinner.”

“Do you want to play trains?” Elias asked, excited to see a creature his own size. What he didn’t understand was why the creature squeaked and backed up several steps. 

“Another young master!” Bob said, trembling as he lowered his head and backed away. “Bob will tell the others at once!” He popped out of sight as quickly as he came.

“He doesn’t like trains?” Elias asked.

“You named a house-elf Bob?” Hermione asked.

“It was a joke…his brother’s name is Neil.” Draco smirked. It took Hermione a moment to process it but finally it registered and she groaned. 

“Shall we go to dinner?” Lucius asked.

“Yes! Where is the diving room?” Elias asked, sliding his hand into his father’s.

“The _dining_ room is through here.” Lucius led Elias from the parlor. Draco offered Hermione his arm and followed them.

“He is a rather random little thing isn’t he? His topic changes make my head spin.” Draco said, watching his little brother as they walked down the hall. Every few steps he would see something that interested him and stop suddenly, jerking their father’s arm in that direction. 

“You have no idea. You’ve only conversed with him for a few moments. Just wait.” Hermione said affectionately as she watched Lucius grab Elias around the waist before he could climb onto a hall table to try and get a sword off of the wall.

“I can’t wait. In the first half hour he called me a dildo, outed you and dad, said he wanted to eat a whore and asked a house elf to play trains. The kid is a riot!” Draco laughed as they turned into the small dining room. 

Lucius held out a chair for Hermione, seating her beside him while Elias scrambled into a chair across from them beside Draco. He began to frown and fussed with his robes, shrugging out of his outer robe and shoving it onto the floor. Draco watched him in his little slacks and button down shirt as he brought his feet up and took off his shoes, dropping them on top of his robes before finally settling into his chair.

“That’s better!” He chirped, grinning across the table at his exasperated parents.

“This kid is bloody amazing!” Draco laughed. He wished with all his heart that he had been a child like Elias. The boy said and did whatever popped into his head.

“Uh oh!” Elias leaned towards Draco with a serious expression on his face. “You are going to get in trouble, you can’t say bad words at the table, Mum gets mad.” Draco grinned and bent his head towards Elias conspiratorially. 

“She does? Are there other rules I need to be aware of? I’ve seen your Mum when she’s angry so I don’t want to make her mad, she scares me.” Draco replied.

“Don’t talk with food in your mouth, she says it’s gross.”

“Right, no talking with my mouth full. Anything else?” Draco asked.

“You should keep your penis to yourself. It’s private and Mum will get really mad if you don’t.” Elias said seriously. 

“Keep my penis to myself….okay….I’ll try really hard.” Draco was trying to keep his laughter at bay but it was impossible. The child was just too precious and Draco was already taken with him. He understood now why his father hadn’t been able to walk away, he wouldn’t have either and suddenly wished that when he saw her years before in Diagon Alley that he had known the baby in the carriage was his little brother.

Dinner was, as it always was with Elias at the table, quite the event. He went on and on about trains for a bit before he began regaling Draco with tales of life at home. Such as the fact that his father was always snogging his mum and it was kind of gross, that Harry and Ginny got married because they were having _six_ and she missed her _parade_ and about Ron and his _lobsters_. 

“The kid would make a brilliant spy.” Draco said, in awe of the things Elias observed with no one the wiser. Hermione frowned and Lucius was thrilled to have someone else on his side in his assessment of Elias’s espionage potential. When dessert was over Draco offered to take Elias for a walk in manor gardens. Lucius took advantage of their moments alone and held her close to him, kissing her lips and whispering sweet seductive words in her ear. He released her only when he heard the sound of Elias running down the hall. He was becoming accustomed to the interruptions.

“Mummy! Daddy!” He cried, shoving open the large double doors to the back parlor and stumbling inside. “Draco took me for a ride on his broom!” Draco stepped up behind him, his hair windblown and tousled, his cheeks flushed.

“Did you enjoy your time with your brother then?” Lucius asked, overjoyed to see his sons taking to one another.

“Yes! We buzzed the owlery and made all the owls shriek and scatter! There were feathers and poop everywhere!” Elias said excitedly. “And Draco let me pee in the bushes!”

“I beg your pardon?” Lucius asked, not sure that he heard correctly.

“I had to pee so Draco told me I could go in the bushes! It was so cool!” Elias exclaimed as he crawled up onto the sofa to sit between his parents.

“What charming habits you teach your younger brother already.” Lucius said through clenched teeth. Draco, however, did not look in the slightest bit repentant.

“What was I to do? I know nothing of children! He said he had to go and had to go right then and we were out on the North side of the property!” Draco defended himself. “It wasn’t as though I let him do his business in public; it was on our property in private.”

“Draco peed in the bushes too!” Elias giggled. “And he taught me a new song! There once was a witch from Paris, and I wasn’t quite certain what color her hair is! I’d almost given up hope when the wind caught her robes….”

“Elias!” Hermione clapped her hand over his mouth and stared wide eyed at a laughing Draco.

“Draco! You taught your little brother bawdy limericks? Are you insane?” Lucius asked, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“I can’t help myself, Elias is the most amazing kid I have ever seen and as his big brother it is my duty to corrupt him as much as possible. That kid is _definitely_ going to rule Slytherin house.” Draco laughed.

“He could be a Gryffindor.” Hermione interjected. Both Lucius and Draco gave her an incredulous look. “Okay, probably not.” She admitted.

“It’s late; I’ll show you where you will be sleeping.” Lucius said as he held out his hand to help Hermione from the sofa. The four of them slowly walked up the stairs together, Draco holding Elias by the hands and swinging him back and forth in front of him. Lucius was basking in the bonding of his children and trying very hard to reign in his own desires regarding the witch next to him.

They turned down a long corridor and stopped outside of a large wooden door.

“This is your room, Elias.” Lucius said softly. “Not just for tonight, but this is _your_ room.” He turned the knob and pushed the door open, the fixtures on the walls immediately lighting and illuminating the room.

“Oh…my….god! Lucius, what did you do!” Hermione gasped as she stepped inside. The room was a little boy’s fantasy come true. Trains decorated the wall and a track was magically suspended around the perimeter of the room with a little replica of the Hogwarts express making a trip around it in silence. The bed was covered in dark blue bedding with trains quilted into the coverlet and throw pillows. A toy chest sat at the foot of his bed, no doubt filled with toys. Near the window was a large, plush chair and flanking it were bookcases overflowing with children’s books, classics from both the muggle and wizarding world. There was a large area that had a desk, a small table and chairs, a small art easel and a cart overflowing with supplies and an enormous rectangular table with an elaborate track set up. It was complete with mountains, villages, castles and even an actual flowing river.

Elias screamed in delight and ran around the room from one area to the next in absolute glee. Lucius smiled as he watched, pleased that he had obviously gotten it right for his youngest son. 

“You spoil him.” Hermione said softly, in awe of what he had done for their child. Part of her wanted to scold him, to chastise him for being overindulgent but she fought it back. This was how Lucius loved. This was how he showed love. It was what he knew and from the look of Elias’s suite he loved their son very much. 

“I just want him to be happy here.” Lucius said, searching her face for a sign of how she was feeling.

“Oh, he is happy alright.” Hermione laughed, watching Elias jump up and down on the large, bouncy bed. A house elf appeared wearing a small nurses cap and full length apron and Hermione jumped, startled by its sudden appearance. 

“I am Nonie, Mistress; I am Master Elias’s nanny-elf.” She said, dropping into a little curtsy. 

“A nanny-elf?” She looked over at Lucius with a frown on her face. “Lucius…”

“I know you disapprove, but Nonie is paid a wage. She isn’t a free elf and she doesn’t wish to be but she begrudgingly accepts a wage because she really wants to be Elias’s nanny.” Lucius hoped that would be enough to ease her mind on the subject. 

“Alright then…hello, Nonie, I am Hermione.”

“I will take very good care of the young Master, Mistress. You can count on me.” She was obviously eager to please and Hermione knew that Lucius wouldn’t let her be responsible for Elias unless he trusted her completely. Hermione watched as she scurried over to the bureau and gathered up a pair of pajamas for Elias.

“Master Elias, it is time for your bath. Come with Nonie.” The elf said, gesturing towards the en suite bathroom. Elias lifted his legs and bounced off of the mattress on his bottom.

“Nonie, come get me when he is ready for bed, unless you are instructed otherwise I will be the one to read to Elias before bed when he is here.” Lucius directed.

“Yes, Master.” Nonie said, hiding a little smile of pleasure at seeing her master softer and so obviously loving towards his new family. Being a Malfoy servant after the war was a world different from being one prior, she was now very proud to serve the house of Malfoy and its softer, gentler masters.

“Elias, I want you to go take your bath and get ready for bed, I will be back shortly. If you need anything Draco’s room is next door and mine is at the end of the hall.” Lucius said.

“Where is mum sleeping?” He asked curiously. Draco snickered and waited to hear the answer as well.

“That is up to her.” He said hoarsely. “I know what I prefer.” He whispered so that only she could hear.

“I-I’ll be with your father, Elias. If you need me.” She said, her cheeks heating.

“In this house you knock before you enter a room, Elias, can you remember that?” Lucius asked.

“Knock…I can knock!” He said.

“Knock and wait for permission _before_ you enter. Understand?”

“So I don’t catch you naked?” Elias quipped.

“Something like that.” Lucius smirked, shaking his head. “Oh, and Draco….when Elias is in the house you are not allowed to have overnight guests. No exceptions.”

“Like I’d ever bring those women to where I actually live.” Draco snorted. “Goodnight, Elias, I will see you in the morning.” He wasn’t prepared for the tiny little bullet of a wizard that ran across the room and wrapped his arms around his waist. 

“G’night, Draco. You are a cool big brother.” Elias said as he hugged Draco tightly. Draco laid his hands on top of Elias’s soft curls, feeling the little spirals shift and bounce beneath his touch. He swallowed hard, more choked up than he expected by the little boy’s easy, generous affections.

“And you are a pretty cool little brother, Elias.” He said softly, his voice hoarse. Elias tossed his head back and grinned before running off to join Nonie in the bathroom. Lucius smiled and laid his hand on Draco’s shoulder. 

“Doesn’t take long does it?” He said softly.

“No, it doesn’t.” Draco answered, taking a deep breath and heading towards his own rooms.

“Would you like to go to my rooms? You can um….get ready for bed or whatever while I read to Elias.” Lucius said. At her nod he led her to his rooms but he didn’t follow her in. If he went inside he wouldn’t come back out until he had sated himself completely on her body. So he let her inside and returned to Elias’s room to see to story detail, then the night was for them alone.


	20. Righting the Past

****

**Chapter Twenty: Righting the Past**

_Where Lucius makes up for the past._

Upon finishing the tale of Sir Gawain from a collection of stories about Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Lucius tucked Elias into his large, comfortable bed leaving the little train night light burning at his bedside since he was sleeping in a new place for the first time. He checked to make certain Nonie was nearby and monitoring the room before he left and made his way down the hall. He slipped into the room beside his, a room that had once belonged to Narcissa. It was the ‘Mistress’s Chambers’, a set of rooms connected to his by a single door. He had never shared a room with his wife nor had his father before him, or his grandfather before him. 

His wife had slept in her own bed every night of their marriage, even on their wedding night, allowing him to come to her bed to make love after which he would return to his own bed to sleep. It hadn’t occurred to him to mind, it was what he knew, what was expected. He _never_ slept with his mistresses because he felt it promoted their intimacy to something that it wasn’t and he never wanted there to be any confusion as to where they stood with his affections. He had slept with Hermione though. He had slept deep and peacefully beside her, the soft whisper of her breathing was soothing. 

Once she had fallen asleep in his arms she had rolled away from him and he missed her warmth but appreciated the fact that she didn’t crowd him while they slept. Ever so often she would reach out in her sleep and touch him, curling her hand in the center of his chest, draping an arm over him briefly as though she were unconsciously reassuring herself that he still lay beside her. It had been an incredible experience, one he wanted to repeat over and over again, especially waking up to see her sleepy smile and slumber heavy eyes and lazy morning love making to get their blood pumping before starting their day. 

He stopped at the door connecting the rooms, teased by the knowledge that she was on the other side waiting for him. He smiled to himself and slipped into the bathroom, wanting to shower and change before he went to her, before he _finally_ got to make love to her the way he wished. He was already hard by the time he stepped beneath the cool spray of the shower. He kept the temperature low but it did nothing to calm his raging libido. He considered ‘rubbing one out’ the way he did when he was a young man before a date but he didn’t want to come anywhere but inside her. 

He had almost achieved his goal the morning before. He had the head of his cock just inside her, her tight wet heat was closing over him and heaven was right within his reach…and then Elias happened. He loved his son with his whole heart but he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs at the interruption. But that wasn’t going to be a problem in his house, he had taken precautions to ensure their privacy and that there would be no interruptions. She was all his.

With that thought racing through his mind and his blood racing to his cock he shut the shower off and used a spell to dry his body, leaving his hair damp and clinging to his shoulders. He stepped into a pair of grey knit sleep pants, forgoing boxers since he didn’t plan on being dressed for long. He brushed his teeth and checked his appearance in the mirror one last time before walking purposefully towards the connecting door and knocking lightly before he entered.

The room was dimly lit with a half dozen small, flickering candles scattered on surfaces nearest the large canopied bed. The midnight blue bedding had been turned down to reveal silver grey sheets that looked crisp and inviting. On the other side of his bed she stood in the shadows near the window, cast in the silvery light of the moon shining through the large floor to ceiling windows. Her hair was still damp, hanging in loose spirals to the middle of her back. She was staring out into the night, her bottom lip between her teeth. He smiled when he realized she was wrapped up tight in his black dressing gown, the sleeves folded up to her elbows and a pool of excess fabric at her feet.

He walked towards her slowly, making sure that she saw him approach so she wouldn’t be startled. She turned towards him with a tentative smile, clearly she was nervous and he was a little surprised to realize that he was too. It was such an important night for them, full of meaning and potential. 

“This looks familiar.” He said huskily, running his fingers beneath the lapels. 

“I was chilled.” She whispered. He smiled and behind him the fire rose in the hearth stoked by a silent command. His display of power was rather impressive, he was showing off for her and she couldn’t help but smile. “That was impressive.”

“It was nothing.” He smirked because they both knew it for the lie that it was. Any display of wandless magic was impressive but for him to have pulled it off without even looking at the fireplace was even more so. “I rather like seeing you in my dressing gown.” He tucked his fingers behind the knotted sash and pulled her closer. “Are you sure? You don’t have to do this if you aren’t ready.”

“It would have already been done had our son not interrupted us.” It was frustrating to have him asking her again and again if she was sure but she understood his reasons. Somewhere inside him was still the fear that he had forced her, that he had raped her that night in the castle, so despite her own frustrations she continued to reassure him. “I am very certain that I want this, Lucius. I want you.” She whispered, laying her hand against the center of his bare chest. 

She swallowed hard and let her eyes wander over him. He was a tall man, lean but well muscled with broad shoulders, narrow waist and hips and long legs. His stomach was smooth and tight, the muscles lightly defined. He was clearly a man who took pride in his body. A light dusting of hair centered his chest, trailing into a thin line down the center of his stomach, swirling around his navel and vanishing into the drawstring waist of his bottoms.

She stroked her fingers through the silky curls, following the line as it arrowed down. A quick little smile twitched her lips when his stomach tightened. He gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her hand away. Maintaining his hold on her he pulled her forward, forcing her to take another step towards him until barely an inch of space was left between them.

“If I let you continue on that path we will both be sorry.” He said hoarsely. He reached for the knot on the sash around her waist and slowly worked it loose, letting the ends fall and the sides open. She reached up and with a boldness that seemed to surprise them both and opened it further, shrugging her shoulders until the too large robe slid over her shoulders and down her arms to pile on the floor around her feet. 

“You are…” He was speechless. She was barely covered in a slip of a gown that reached the top of her thighs with a small lace flounce along the hem. The pearl/silver color of the silk and lace concoction made him think of purity and innocence, two things that she would always represent for him. How could he have ever thought her anything but remarkable?

“Not compared to you…you are beautiful.” She whispered as she moved closer. She pushed her hair back over her shoulders, revealing the tight points of her nipples pressing into the thin material of her gown. She saw the slight twitch of his lips and smiled. He knew he was beautiful, knew that he was an incredible specimen for a man his age, even though wizards weren’t victim to the ravages of time like muggle men. He had survived war, torture and prison and still he was beautiful. And by some strange twist of fate he was hers.

“You amaze me.” He reached for her, laying his hand on the curve of her waist and pulling her close. “In all my years I have never known another witch like you.”

“Lucius….before we do this…I-I need to make sure you know that for me, sharing your bed is not something done lightly. It’s a commitment I am making to you and as long as you and I are together there will be no other.” She swallowed past the knot in her throat to continue. “I ask the same of you. I wasn’t raised the same as you, I wasn’t raised to look the other way while you take a mistress. If you reach a point in our relationship where you are unsatisfied then I ask that you end it. Please don’t hurt me by cheating.” 

He caressed the smooth curve of her waist and hip with one hand and her soft cheek with the other one. Her lips were trembling and her vulnerability tugged at his heart.

“I promise. At the moment I couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else, certainly not as much as I want you.” He lowered his lips to hers and took her lips with a tenderness that brought tears to her eyes. Her emotions were riding close to the surface. She felt so many things that she thought she might explode if something didn’t happen to release the pressure building inside her. The kiss began tentatively, their contact limited to their lips, his hand on her waist and alongside her neck, her hands pressed against his chest. Slowly they moved closer, lips parted and tongues tangled and soon they were thigh to thigh, belly to belly and breast to chest. 

Lucius inched her backwards towards the bed, refusing to release the kiss or remove his arms from around her to move across the room. He only let her go when the backs of her thighs touched the mattress. She was breathing hard as she sat down and scooted back across the cool sheets, settling herself into the center of the bed. Lucius reached behind him where he had tucked his wand into his waistband when he undressed and withdrew it. She smiled and reached beneath a pillow, withdrawing hers as well.

“I was once told that I should never let it get too far from my reach.” She said, twirling it between her fingers.

“Smart advice, though I don’t think we will be needing them tonight.” He said as he opened the drawer of his nightstand to put the wands inside. His plan was thwarted however, when the drawer proved to be full of little foil packets in a variety of colors with the words Trojan and Durex, lubricated, un-lubricated, flavored and ribbed for her pleasure. “Gods damn it, Draco!” He swore, staring down into the small sea of prophylactics. 

“Um…WOW, you really planned ahead, didn’t you?” Hermione had never seen so many condoms before.

“This wasn’t my doing, it was that wretched son of mine.” Lucius growled as he slammed the drawer closed and dropped his wand onto the top of the nightstand. She couldn’t help but laugh, he looked so put out by Draco’s prank

“He means well.” She said as she tossed her wand beside his and held out her hand. His furrowed brow smoothed slightly as he laid his hand in hers and climbed into bed with her.

“While he is definitely out of line…it brings up an important issue.” He settled onto his side as she lay on her back next to him. “I am sorely out of practice when it comes to such things…”

“I don’t want to have another baby just yet, Lucius.” She said softly, unable to stop herself from reaching out to touch him, running her fingers lightly along the defined muscles of his biceps.

“Alright.” He moved to roll over and retrieve one of the condoms from the drawer when her nails bit lightly into his arm.

“Which is why I started taking a contraceptive potion about a month ago.” She said softly. “There has been no one else…so I’m safe.”

“So there is no need for…”

“Only if you need to protect me from something.” She smirked. She didn’t think Lucius would ever take such a risk, he was too vain, too fastidious in his personal care to allow himself to contract an STD.

“No, you don’t have to worry about me.” He rolled towards her once more, leaning over her so that they were nose to nose. “I’m relieved actually, the last time I used something like that they were…different. I didn’t relish making a fool of myself trying to figure out how they went on.” Her tinkling laughter made him smile and he was struck by the strange situation. He finally had the witch he desired in his bed, nearly naked and ready to give him full access to her body and they were laughing, joking about the bloody condoms Draco had stuffed in his drawer. He really had lost his touch, gone from Casanova to clown in a few short years.

“Lucius?” She whispered his name as her fingers walked up his arm over his shoulder and along the side of his throat.

“Yes, my Darling?” He caressed the smooth curve of her hip, wanting more than just about anything to roll over and settle on top of her. 

“Are we going to talk all night?” She clasped the back of his neck and pulled his head towards her.

“No, I think maybe the time for conversation is passed.” He kissed her, a soft, languorous exploration of her mouth with his. He tasted her lips, her tongue, even the sharp edges of her teeth. He sucked and nibbled on her lips until they were red and swollen, throbbing from the passionate kiss and still she wanted more of it, more of him. The hand that had been content to stroke the curve of her waist and hip ventured higher, cupping the soft mound of her breast, the puckered tip pressing into his palm. She whimpered and rolled towards him, her hands clutching his shoulders as she tried to get closer.

Lucius wasn’t about to be rushed, despite the wanton little witch rubbing her body so temptingly against his and his insubordinate cock twitching in merry reply. He kneaded the supple flesh gently as he nibbled his way along her jaw to trace the shell of her ear with his tongue, his breath hot and tickling against the dampened skin. He sucked on her earlobe then bit into it gently causing her to squirm and moan and dig her fingertips into the tight muscles of his back. 

He followed the smooth line of her throat, kissing, licking, suckling and nibbling lightly. He could feel her tremble beneath his lips, her skin prickling as little shivers raced through her body. His oral journey ended at the soft swells of her breasts as they plumped over the neckline of her negligee. He sprinkled tiny wet kisses over the creamy mounds while wayward fingers pushed the thin spaghetti straps off of her shoulders. The silvery silk drooped providing the perfect opportunity for him to push it lower. 

Hermione was all too eager to assist in his endeavor to render her naked, sliding her arms free of the straps and quickly moving her greedy little hands all over his torso. Lucius couldn’t recall a time when anyone had been so eager to touch him. Her hands were all over him, threading through the curls on his chest, tickling through the trail of fur bisecting his abdomen and then around his waist to traverse the dips and swells of his muscled back. It felt incredible to have those cool, curious fingers moving over his heated skin. 

As her fingertips followed the long line of his spine he ducked his head to press a soft kiss to her puckered nipple. The high pitched moan that drifted from her lips encouraged an answering groan from him just before he opened his mouth and sucked the perfect little bud inside. His tongue licked, flicked and tickled her nipple until her soft little whimpers blended into one long note of desire. And then he lifted his head and moved to the other one.

She was so damned responsive that it was nearly his undoing. Every touch, every stroke of his hand or brush of his lips had her writhing beneath him and crying out breathlessly. The honesty of her reactions moved him, it helped heal him yet it wounded him at the same time wondering if he had ever known honest emotion before her. 

When his hand skimmed lower, over the softness of her belly, pushing the silk negligee down as she raised her hips from the bed so he could push it all the way down. He skimmed the flimsy garment over her thighs and lower to her feet where she kicked it away to be lost in the tangle of his sheets. She was naked, gloriously bare with her creamy skin shining the glittering candlelight. He thought perhaps he had imagined how lovely she was in the post orgasmic haze of a few mornings past. He thought that perhaps spending five years without a glimpse of a woman and spending more time than he cared to admit with his hand had colored his judgment but he knew it wasn’t true.

She was, without a doubt, beautiful and he would dare any man to say otherwise. Every inch of her was soft and her peaches and cream skin was flushed with passion and slight embarrassment but she didn’t shy away and she didn’t try to cover herself. Her toes curled when he rested his fingertips on the top of her foot and slowly dragged them up her leg. Her lips parted and her breathing picked up. Up and over her bended knee his touch tickled and then down the smooth, round length of her thigh, feathering into the ultra-sensitive crease where thigh met pelvis.

He watched as he created invisible patterns on her skin thinking he had never held anything so _good_ in his hands before her, still in awe that she let him touch her. When he looked up at her face he was shocked to see her eyes wide open. Other lovers had always laid back and closed their eyes when he touched them and he never really knew if it was to savor or to hide. But she wasn’t hiding, she was watching his fingers move over her body and she wasn’t just laying back and accepting his touch, her hands were busy touching him as well. 

As his fingers danced low over her belly hers were dipping beneath the waist of his bottoms and tickling the base of his spine. She licked her lips and lifted her head, capturing his bottom lip between her teeth at the same time she plunged her hands deep into his trousers and clasped his backside in a tight, urgent grip. She caught him off guard when she rolled him onto his back and leaned over him, her hair falling in a dark curtain around them. 

“You have too many clothes on, Lucius.” The throaty purr had heat racing through him. She seemed shocked at the sound of her own voice laced with passion and need.

“I was getting to it.” He whispered, reaching up to caress her lips with his fingertips. “You are beautiful.”

“If you keep saying that I am going to start believing it.” She said, her little smile playful. 

“Believe it.” He muttered against her lips as he tugged her face down so that he could kiss her again. As she kissed him back she was trying to release the knot in the drawstring of his pajama bottoms. After several frustrating and unsuccessful tries she wrenched her mouth away from his and reached for her wand on the nightstand. Lucius watched in stunned amusement as his comfortable sleepwear disintegrated right before his eyes leaving him as naked as the day he was born. 

“That’s better.” She grinned, tossing her wand back to the nightstand. She squealed when he wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled her back onto the bed moving so that he half covered her with his upper body.

“Where is my shy little witch and who is this wanton vixen in her place?” He asked softly, a little smirk lifting the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t know. I-I don’t know what it is…but when I’m with you I want to touch you all the time, I want to kiss you and I want to _feel_ you. Do I have it wrong?” She asked softly, wriggling against him, fascinated by the way the little hairs on his chest tickled her nipples. 

“No, you don’t have it wrong. I’m glad that you aren’t frightened after...” He trailed off, there was no place between them for what had happened before, he was going to make love to her for the first time and in his mind the past no longer existed.

“No, never frightened, not of you.” She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him down to her for a long, slow, heated kiss. As their lips, tongues and teeth danced together his hand moved slowly down her torso, following the smooth curve of her waist to the flare of her hip and then over the softness of her belly. A groan rumbled in his chest when she opened her thighs, encouraging him to journey further, to touch her where her need was centered. 

The short curls crowning her sex were silky beneath his fingertips as he swirled them in the well groomed thatch of hair. Her lower lips were smooth and swollen with want, her creamy essence beginning to seep from between the petals that were slowly flowering open in welcome. He stroked the outer folds gently, still kissing her sweet lips tenderly. He licked at her lips at the same time that his fingers parted her to find the slippery hot flesh of her interior. She moaned, a hoarse ragged sound that was muffled by his lips and questing tongue as he rimmed her opening with a gentle finger and spread the slippery cream of her arousal. 

She bucked and rolled her hips beneath his fingers and when he brushed the turgid bud of her clit with his thumb she screamed into his mouth. She was ready, and though he wanted more than anything to take it slow and taste every inch of her he couldn’t wait. When he moved between her thighs she spread her legs wide and tucked her face into the side of his neck, her lips and teeth tormenting him while her arms wrapped around him and held him tight against her.

“Yes!” She whimpered as he fitted the thick head of his cock against her. She canted her hips up and the crown popped inside her easily. He could feel the vibrations of her little moans against his skin and he swallowed hard, slowly pushing forward into the silky glove of her body. She was tight, so tight and so damned hot that he was sweating before he had even worked half of his length inside her. 

“Gods how did I not remember this?” He growled, pulling back slightly and pushing deeper into her. “So damned good….so tight….so _hot_…gods I’m going to burn up inside you!” She held him tighter, the sounds she made increasing in volume as he worked the heavy length of his cock into her. He pulled back again and then plunged forward sharply until he had no more to give her and her body checked his invasion, a perfect fit. Hermione adjusted to the feeling of being filled to bursting. He held himself still inside her, letting her grow accustomed to the feel of him. Soon the burning stretching feeling gave way to an aching, an itchy feeling that made her wriggle beneath him to seek relief.

“Lucius….please.” She sobbed as the muscles deep inside her pulsed around him involuntarily, begging him to ease the pressure slowly building inside. 

“For Merlin’s sake….please don’t do that.” He groaned, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes closed as he fought the need to come. He cursed himself for not taking his cock in hand in the shower to take the edge off because being buried balls deep inside the tightest pussy he had ever known after five years of abstinence was going to kill him. He was sweating and his body trembled as he tried to get himself under control.

“I need you.” She whispered against his ear, sinking her teeth into his earlobe as punctuation.

“Damn it…I’ll just apologize now…” He ground out. “Wrap your legs around me, Hermione.” He growled when her soft thighs clasped him high around his waist and he felt her ankles lock at the base of his spine. He slid his arms beneath hers, curling them beneath her so that his hands held on to her shoulders, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. “Look at me.” He needed to see her eyes, needed to have her looking at him. When she locked her gaze with his he began to move, slowly at first, dragging his cock through her greedily clasping sheathe with agonizing precision, intent on making sure that she felt every inch of him laying claim to her.

“Oh!” Her eyes widened and her grip on him tightened, her hands fisting in his hair. “Oh gods….Lucius….” She sounded confused and her tone was pleading.

“I’ve got you…Gods, Hermione, I won’t last….you feel so good and it’s been so long…” Then tendons in his neck stood out as the tension built. He moved faster, thrusting deep and hard with every pumping, grinding motion of his hips. He moved one hand down her back and gripped her ass, pulling her up against him. “Move with me….oh yeah…just like that…” He could feel the beads of sweat rolling down his back and temples. She caught the rhythm, moving with him, rolling her hips up with every down-stroke. 

”I…I…oh gods, Lucius! I can’t…it’s too…” She cried, her fingers digging into the back of his neck. He felt her tighten around him, felt her body tremble with impending orgasm and he thanked every deity known to humankind that she was such a responsive witch because there was no way in hell he was going to be able to pull off an impressive performance, not this time.

“Don’t fight it, come for me…” He ordered as the hand on her ass tightened and he began to thrust harder, faster, his cock driving through the wet clasping flesh like a piston. His own orgasm was rushing in on him. He could feel the scalding burn in his balls and that tight, itchy feeling in the base of his spine as nirvana drew near and for a moment he feared he would end up leaving her behind despite his best intentions. But the witch beneath him stiffened suddenly and her mouth opened on a scream that never sounded as tremors wracked her body. The tight glove of her pussy convulsed around his cock so tightly that his tip swelled almost painfully before his testicles convulsed and he came inside her with an intensity that had him shouting in near pain and seeing stars as he spilled into her. It went on and on, his body trembling as he began to wonder if it would ever stop. 

It was good, better than good. It had NEVER been so good. He had never imagined that it _could_ be so good. He hadn’t been the suave, cool lover he had hoped to be with her but damned if he could complain as he laid on top of the witch completely boneless with his head spinning, his softening cock still pulsing inside her. He lifted his head, groaning when the world spun for a moment before his eyes focused on the flushed, sweaty face looking up at him with sleepy eyes and a smug, satisfied smile on her lips.

“Are you okay?” Lucius started, his lips twitching slightly. Had she really just asked him if _he_ was okay?

“I’m better than okay, my Darling.” He chuckled, lowering his head to kiss her gently. “Are you alright?”

“Oh yes.” She sighed, stretching languidly beneath him. “I am so…so….so alright.” She said smiling. 

“I’m sorry that I lost my head.” He whispered, rubbing his nose against hers as he brought his hand up to stroke the side of her neck. It was probably the most awkward night of sex he had ever experienced, not nearly the romantic lovemaking he had planned. Yet it had been without a shadow of a doubt the best sex he had ever had. 

“I’m not.” She reached up to trace his brow with her finger. “So that was what was missing the first time?”

“That…and more. I had planned on loving you slowly but somewhere between the condoms and the conversations my plans were lost. Someday I will make love to you slowly.” He said quietly.

“I think we did pretty well, I certainly have no complaints.” She kissed his lips and then winced. “Well, okay, I have one…you’re heavy, Lucius.” 

He laughed and withdrew, rolling onto his back beside her and grabbing his wand to clean them up. He pulled the blankets up over them and snuggled Hermione into his side, her head resting on his shoulder. 

“We are good together, Hermione.” He said on a yawn, turning his head to kiss her temple. “But there is so much more for us to share between us, so much more to experience. This was incredible but I have a feeling that you and I will only get better.”


	21. Unusual Wake Up Call

****

**Chapter Twenty One: Unusual Wake Up Call**

_Where a new family adjusts._

Draco had been awakened in numerous ways over the years. By house elves drawing back the drapes, an alarm clock ringing in his ears, his fellow Slytherins making noise as they readied for class, a crucio from the Dark Lord and on occasion by the amorous advances of a beautiful woman. For the first time in his life he was awakened by tiny fingers prying open his eyes. His little brother was in his bed, lying on his side next to him, his face barely an inch away.

“Are you awake?” Elias asked in a stage whisper.

“It is rather difficult to sleep when someone is poking me in the eye.” Draco said drolly as he reached up and moved his brother’s hand. “Why are you up so early, Elias?”

“Because I was done sleeping. Why are you up so early?” Elias sat up and crossed his legs, his elbows propped on his knees and his chin resting on his hands.

“Because a little boy came in here and stuck his fingers in my eye. I was _not_ done sleeping as it were.” Draco yawned and rolled onto his back. “Why didn’t you go bother your Mum and Dad?” 

“I did but they were wrestling and I don’t think they wanted to play with me.” Elias said. 

“Wrestling you say?” Draco smirked. _Way to go, Dad._. “No, they were playing a grown up game. Next time keep knocking until they answer before you go in. Speaking of which…did you knock on my door?

“Yes but you snore really loud so I didn’t think you could hear me.” Elias imitated the sounds of snoring and Draco laughed. 

“Alright you little scamp.” He laughed. “So you and I are the only ones up?” 

“Yes, should we get Mummy and Daddy? Maybe they are finished wrestling.”

“Um…no….why don’t we let them…wrestle…a bit longer and you and I will have breakfast then find something fun to do.” Draco couldn’t resist reaching out to touch the soft sandy curls. He still couldn’t believe that he had a little brother. 

“Really? Just us? Like real brothers?” Elias asked excitedly.

“Yes, really. Elias…we _are_ real brothers.” Draco said smiling.

“I like you, Draco, I like you being my brother.” Elias smiled and launched himself at Draco, hugging him around the neck tightly.

“I like you too, Elias.” Draco said, just as choked up as he had been the night before when he said goodnight. The little boy captured his heart and he dug in quickly and firmly. “Okay, Buddy, you have to let me up so I can get dressed and then we can start the day.” 

Elias released him and Draco left the comfort of his bed to get dressed. As he showered Elias sat on the closed lid of the toilet and talked without stopping, the same thing as he shaved. While he was dressing the boy jumped up and down on his bed, still talking a mile a minute. And as they walked to the dining room Elias’s voice could still be heard chattering at his indulgent older brother.

****

**~@~**

Lucius Malfoy stretched his body with a rather loud contented growl. The smile on his face was ridiculously big as he looked over at the witch lying beside him. She was red-faced and sweaty after a very thorough loving in the early morning light. She was lying on her stomach, the sheet barely covering her rather delectable backside. Her eyes were closed and her lips were parted and swollen from his kisses. Her hair was a disaster, just one giant tangle but to him she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He reached out to skim the slick skin of her back and she groaned, wriggling against the sheet.

“You have me completely knackered, Lucius, let a witch catch her breath.” She protested though he could see the sly little smile on her pretty lips. He had no doubts that her inner seductress was already stirring and would soon have him on his knees begging her favor. Once that awkward first go was out of the way he had taken her twice more. She took to lovemaking like a duck to water, leaving him breathless and his body aching pleasantly from the exertion. 

“I’m in no hurry, Love, I can keep you here all day if I like.” He rolled onto his stomach and began pressing tiny little kisses along her spine, smiling against her skin as she moaned and arched into his caress.

“As if our son will allow that. I am surprised that he hasn’t come barreling in already.” She said, yelping when he sank his teeth into the upper swell of her left butt cheek.

“He has a new playmate in his brother, I am fairly certain that he dragged poor Draco from his bed bright and early this morning.” Lucius said as he pushed the sheet further down and revealed her backside in its entirety. No sooner had the randy rod between his legs begun to stir once more than a raucous pounding sounded on his bedroom door.

“What?” He shouted in frustration as he jerked the sheet back up to cover her just in case Elias took his barked query as an invite. 

“Master….sir….I think you should come right away sir.” The quavering voice of a wary house-elf sounded outside his door.

“I was going to before I was disturbed.” Lucius growled, nipping Hermione’s shoulder blade when she laughed at him. “What is it?”

“It’s the young master, sir….he and Master Draco….sir, please just come quickly.” The creature sounded worried so Lucius got up quickly and retrieved a robe from his wardrobe. As he exited he found Hermione donning the one she had worn the night before. 

“He’s probably broken something priceless.” She mumbled as she passed him his wand and tucked hers into the large pocket of the robe.

“I am more concerned that he found something he shouldn’t have, something I may have missed from my other life.” Lucius said worriedly as he jerked open the door and headed down the corridor. Hermione followed behind him and as she rounded the corner she slammed into his back. He was standing at the banister looking out over the rail with his head tilted to the side. 

“What’s going on?” Hermione asked as she moved up beside him and peered over the rail. At the bottom of the main stairs was a pile of pillows dragged from the sofas and beds throughout the manor, at the top of the stairs Draco sat upon a velvet bedspread and Elias was settling onto his lap.

“We try to stop the young Masters but they don’t listen, Sir!” The little house-elf called Bob wailed as he popped into view beside them.

“What are they doing?” Lucius asked as he watched Elias reach down and pull the bottom of the bedspread up over their feet while Draco wrapped his arms tight around his little brother. Then, to Lucius’s amazement they rocked forward until they were sliding down the carpeted stairs like they were riding a toboggan. They bounced from step to step rapidly, laughing all the while.

Hermione was clutching his arm, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and fear. He didn’t hesitate, disapparating them both at the same time and reappearing at the bottom of the stairs just as Elias and Draco crashed into the mountain of pillows. Elias could barely breathe he was laughing so hard and Draco was laughing right along with him, hugging his brother close as they tried to catch their breath.

“Oh gods I have always wanted to do that!” Draco said on the tail end of his laughter.

“Really? Well, I hope you have it out of your system now.” Lucius said tightly, his slipper shod foot tapping in annoyance. Draco noticed him for the first time and smiled.

“I don’t know about that, it was the most fun I’ve ever had in this house fully clothed.” He smirked, groaning as he stood and lifted Elias off of him, setting the little boy on his feet next to him.

“Did you see us?” Elias asked excitedly, bouncing up and down. “We flew down the stairs!”

“Yes, we saw you.” Hermione said, stepping from behind Lucius. “You could have been hurt, Baby, what were you thinking?” She knelt down in front of him, making certain that her robe stayed closed in front of Draco.

“It was fun and Draco wouldn’t let me get hurt, he likes me.” Elias said smiling. 

“You shouldn’t be behaving so carelessly inside the house, you shouldn’t be behaving so carelessly at all.” Lucius frowned, unsure how to handle the situation. Draco had never been a rebellious child, at least not at home, the situation was unfamiliar, especially given that Draco was an adult.

“Who won?” Elias asked suddenly. 

“Won what?” Hermione asked, leaning against Lucius when his arm went around her waist.

“I came to see you this morning and you didn’t hear me, you were wrestling. Who won? It looked like Daddy was winning but when you didn’t talk to me I left and got Draco up.” Elias shrugged.

Hermione groaned and buried her face in Lucius’s shoulder while Draco laughed and Lucius shook his head in exasperated amusement. 

“Did you win, Daddy?” Elias asked innocently having no clue what he had actually seen.

“It was a tie.” Lucius said, glaring at his eldest child who could barely contain himself.

“Oh, that’s good! That means you get to wrestle again for a tie-breaker!” Elias said excitedly.

“By all means, you should go back to your room and wrestle some more.” Draco said through his laughter. “Break the tie, set a record, whatever.” 

“Elias…” Hermione’s face was so red that it felt like it was on fire when she looked up.

“Is going to spend the day with me. We are going for a horseback ride around the property and I promised him a ride in my car, which I might add that he finds much cooler than Dad’s.” Draco laid his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We are going to be far too busy enjoying ourselves to notice you so you should just go back to your room and …wrestle.”

“Draco, Elias is a little boy and supervising him is a big responsibility…” Hermione said, biting her lip. 

“If I need you I promise to come get you, of course I’ll knock first.” He smiled. “We will be fine, enjoy some time alone, Elias and I are going to get to know each other, spend some quality ‘brother’ time together.”

Hermione looked down at Elias who was staring up at his brother adoringly. She didn’t let just anyone care for her son. She was picky and very careful with Elias’s care but she knew that it was important for Elias and Draco to bond, though it seemed that they were having a rather easy time of it. She debated the situation for several seconds. She _would_ like to spend some more time alone with Lucius. Just the thought of spending more time in that bed with his hands all over her had her heart rate increasing. 

“You promise you will come get me?” She asked Draco.

“I promise. I will take very good care of him.” He said.

“Alright….he has to wear a helmet when you go riding and make sure he is bundled up, it’s cold out. Oh, and he can’t ride in your car without a safety seat, there is one in Lucius’s car and don’t give him soda…”

“Granger, I’ve got it.” Draco chuckled. “Trust me.” 

Hermione sighed and bent down to kiss Elias on the forehead, cupping his cheek in her hand.

“You behave for your brother, Elias.” She said softly.

“I will, Mummy, promise.” He smiled.

“I expect you both to be on your best behavior. I don’t want servants popping in to tattle on the two of you again.” Lucius said.

“We promise to behave as proper Malfoy men should.” Draco said, snapping his heels together like a soldier. “We will see you two at supper.” He said, taking his little brother’s hand and leading him out of the foyer that now looked as though a pillow factory had exploded within it. 

Lucius looked down at the rumpled witch clinging to his side and smiled. 

“Well, whatever shall we do to pass the time until dinner?” He purred into her ear.

“Oh, I’m sure we can think of something.” She said snuggling into his chest. 

“Care for a bit of…wrestling?”


	22. Afternoon Delight

****

**Chapter 22: Afternoon Delight**

_Where Lucius visits Hermione for lunch._

“My gods you look well and truly laid.” Jessa laughed when she saw Hermione sitting behind her desk on Monday. She couldn’t help but see the differences, subtle though they were. Her eyes were different, deep and dark as though she kept a secret. Her smile was a little more knowing and a little less innocent. The flush in her cheeks there for a reason other than the warm little bookshop. 

“Hello, Jessa, how was your weekend?” Hermione asked with a little smirk to her lips.

“Clearly it wasn’t as good as yours! You look…smug.” Jessa said as she took her customary perch on the edge of Hermione’s desk. “So…was he as good as he looks?”

“I’m not answering that question.” Hermione answered though the uncontrollable grin on her face was better than any confession. 

“You don’t need to, Dearest, your smile says it all!” Jessa’s laughter filled the small office and Hermione couldn’t help but join in. Jessa had become such an important part of her circle. She provided her with a relief from the endless sea of testosterone that surrounded her since Ginny had gone off to play for the Harpies. “I am so glad he didn’t disappoint.”

“No, he didn’t.” Hermione said finally. 

“Well, aside from the shag-a-thon of epic proportions, how did the weekend at his house go?” Jessa asked. “How did the brothers take to each other?”

“Draco fell in love with Elias instantly and they were like two peas in a very cozy, sadistic pod.” Hermione said. “It was a really nice weekend, despite Draco teaching Elias dirty jokes and riding down the staircase on a blanket. It was more than I hoped for.” 

“That’s good, I am so glad to see you coming out of your little self imposed prison, Hermione. You’ve been alone too long.” Jessa reached out and wrapped her fingers around Hermione’s, squeezing gently. “So…are you in _love_?” 

“Oh!” Hermione wasn’t expecting the question and her startled exclamation had Jessa laughing again. 

“Easy there, I didn’t ask you for a kidney!” 

“I just wasn’t expecting you to ask me that.” Hermione mumbled, her lips twisting in consternation. “I don’t have an answer for that. I don’t think I really know what love is outside of how I feel about Elias and my friends.” She looked up at Jessa curiously. “Have you ever been in love?”

“Once, a long time ago.” She said quietly. “He died…he was murdered.”

“Oh my god! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.” Hermione felt terrible.

“Oh no, I could never have bad memories where he was concerned. I was very young when I met him. He was a few years older than me, dark, brooding and quite possibly the most intelligent man I had ever known. I fell in love with him the moment I met him. He helped my mother and I out of a very bad situation, put his self at great risk to do so actually. He was my first. I gave him my virginity and my heart. He never loved me in return though, his heart always belonged to another but it didn’t matter to me, I was willing to wait for him, to take whatever he could give me. He would write to me and he would come see me when he could. Then nothing. It was two years later that I learned he had died, murdered while protecting others. I don’t know if I could ever love someone else the way I loved him.” She reached up and swiped a stray tear from her cheek and smiled. 

“I knew a man like that once.” Hermione said softly. “I can understand why it would be hard to move on from that.”

“When you love someone they become a part of you, so much so that even when they aren’t there you can still feel them. Love can fade, but it never dies, not completely. Once you love someone you love them forever, maybe not in the same way or with the same intensity but you love them because for however long they were in your life they shaped who you are, who you become. So even though in the end my heart was broken and even though he could never love me back, I would never change it.” She said.

“How do you know? How did you know that what you felt for him was love?” Hermione asked.

“Every time I saw him I got this sick spinning feeling in my stomach.” Jessa closed her eyes and sighed. “He wasn’t exactly handsome, not like your man, but his presence, the way he held himself just made me hot and tingly all over. I was eighteen when we met and at first he laughed it off, telling me I was too young to know what I was talking about. He was twenty three but wise beyond his years. I didn’t care, I just _knew_. He was in my every thought and as corny as it sounds I swear my heart beat just for him. The first time he kissed me I was lost. And when he made love to me he was so gentle, so tender that it would make me cry every time. I needed him, craved him like an addict, I couldn’t get enough of him. When he was gone…well, when he was gone I suffered more than you can imagine. I still have my rough days.” She said.

“You never show it. I’ve never seen you look anything but cool, confident and sexy.” Hermione said, awed by the tale she was hearing.

“Something I learned from him. He never showed his emotions to anyone but me.” She smiled. “I hold that very dear. Even if he couldn’t love me, he trusted me. That was enough.” 

Hermione was out of her chair and around her desk before Jessa could blink. The younger woman wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight, so tight that she could barely breathe. She smiled and hugged Hermione back, absorbing the love that emanated from her. 

“Thank you for sharing that with me, Jessa. It means a lot to me.” She said softly. “You mean a lot to me.”

“The feeling is mutual, Dearest.” Jessa said, trying not to cry. She had never had any real friends, certainly none like Hermione. When she had met the younger woman three years earlier she never dreamed they would be friends and now she couldn’t imagine life without her. 

“Ahem….am I interrupting something?” Hermione and Jessa let go of each other and turned towards the smooth, cultured voice coming from the doorway. Lucius and Draco stood just outside her office staring in.

“Damn it, Father, you NEVER interrupt when two hot women are holding each other! You ruined it! Now we’ll never know what could have happened!” Draco scolded his father playfully, earning himself a frown from his father.

“What are you two doing here?” Hermione asked, hoping Jessa didn’t ask why they were dressed so peculiarly since they were both wearing robes. 

“Draco wanted to ask your permission to take Elias on an outing.” Lucius said as he stepped into her office and immediately bent his head for a kiss. “And I missed you.” He whispered against her lips.

“I want to take him fishing.” Draco said as he stared at Jessa. “Hello.” He drawled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, forgive me. Jessa Smith, this is Draco Malfoy, Lucius’s other son. Draco, this is Jessa Smith, my friend.” Hermione made the introductions and watched as Jessa smirked at the young man. 

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Malfoy.” Jessa said, her voice sounding almost like a purr.

“It’s Draco, and the pleasure is all mine.” He said, winking flirtatiously as his eyes took in every inch of her. 

“Not yet it isn’t.” She chuckled as she slid from the desk. “Should I turn around and let you see the back?” She asked, turning slowly and planting her hands on the desk so that Draco got a nice view of her backside in tight denim. 

“I do like an accommodating woman.” Draco said, his grin both amused and determined. Jessa threw her head back and laughed as she turned and approached him. 

“You are a handsome thing, aren’t you?” She let her eyes travel slowly over him. “You look like your Daddy.” 

“I may look like him but I am definitely a newer, improved model.” He smirked.

“Hermione wasn’t exactly complaining about old Daddy’s condition.” Jessa let her eyes linger on the front of Draco’s trousers for a moment and then looked over her shoulder at Hermione. “This family is definitely gifted.” She said, winking at the blushing Hermione. She smiled when she caught the knowing arch to Lucius’s brow and turned her attention back to Draco. “Arrogant Pup, I am far too old for you, I’d eat you alive.”

“Not if I eat you first.” Draco said, the tip of his tongue touching the center of his top lip and his brows lifting in challenge. “Age doesn’t bother me, women are like fine wine, the best vintages tend to have a few years on them. Makes them smoother and much more pleasant to handle.” 

“Is that right?” Jessa liked Draco Malfoy. The gorgeous little bastard was smug as hell and she found herself growing warm and wet at the thought of having him in her bed. “Why don’t you come out front with me, Pup, let the lovers have a few moments of privacy while you and I continue this conversation.” She said, licking her lips seductively.

“Lead the way and I will gladly follow.” Draco said.

“Mmmm….already you know the rules. I like that. Come along, Pup.” She said as she curled her fingers around his belt buckle and pulled him along behind her as they left the office. Draco gave them an evil grin as he closed the door behind them.

“That boy is shameless.” Lucius was somewhat awed at his son’s smooth flirtation with Jessa. 

“Jessa is just as bad, she’s going to devour Draco and spit out his bones.” Hermione shook her head, smiling because she just couldn’t help herself. She was damned happy to see him. “So…you really missed me?” 

“I did.” He reached for the frog closure of his cloak and she was amused by the flourish with which he removed it, swinging it around his shoulders dramatically and tossing it across her desk. “Have I told you how much I enjoyed having you in my bed, in my home?” He asked as he removed his robes and tossed them on top of his cloak. He stood in front of her wearing dark navy trousers with suspenders and a button down shirt with navy pinstripes and a solid white collar and cuffs. He wasn’t wearing a tie, the button at his collar left open.

“You have…at least a dozen times.” She said, running her fingers under the suspenders. “You look handsome.” 

“I had a meeting this morning at the Ministry.” He said as he laid his hands on her hips and pulled her close.

“Where is your tie?” She asked, stroking the hollow of his throat revealed by the open collar.

“I went by your house to see our son and he set it on fire.” He said casually.

“He what?” She stiffened in his arms, her eyes wide with alarm.

“He didn’t mean to, he was playing with a little cauldron, Draco and I were trying to help him brew a giggle potion and as usual he got excited and put in too many pixie feathers. There was a small explosion, no damage and no injuries, unless you count the silk tie that is in your rubbish can.” Lucius smiled and slid his hands back and over her bottom. “No harm done.”

“He isn’t exactly taking to potions. He’s better at charms.” Hermione could feel him hardening against her stomach and her breathing became ragged as her body responded in kind. 

“How about we discuss our son later?” He began moving his fingers, slowly bunching her skirt in his hands as it inched up the backs of her thighs. 

“Did you want to talk about something else?” She asked hoarsely.

“How do you feel after this weekend? Are you sore?” He asked softly, rubbing his lips back and forth against her brow. She wanted to touch his skin so she began plucking open the buttons on his shirtfront until she could slide her hands inside and feel the heat of his skin against her palms.

“I soaked in the bath last night with a healing potion, I am fine today.” She said as she boldly caressed his chest in the middle of her small office. He finally managed to bunch her skirt at her waist and his large hands were heating her backside with nothing but a thin stretch of lace between them and her bottom.

“I wanted to go home with you or beg you to stay with me.” His lips were traveling over her cheek, edging ever closer to her lips.

“Why didn’t you?” She slid her hands up his chest to grip his shoulders, one hand continuing on behind his neck.

“I don’t want to pressure you. I wanted to give you your space and a chance to…recover…from the weekend.” He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth and she whimpered in frustration.

“I’ll let you know if I feel pressured or if I need space, I missed you.” She tightened her grip on his nape. “Now kiss me before I hurt you, damn it.” She could feel his smile through the kiss. His lips caressed hers gently, his tongue tapping lightly at their seam begging entrance. She didn’t require much coaxing, parting her lips and allowing him inside to taste fully as she did the same. When his tongue retreated hers would advance in an erotic duel that had them both perspiring in the closed quarters.

“Then I’ll not worry about it unless you mention it and will have you at my side every night.” He growled against her throat as they broke for air.

“Definitely tonight.” She said, letting her head fall back so that he had better access to her throat. “You have to make this up to me. It’s not fair for you to come to my job and get me all worked up then leave.”

Lucius lifted his head and stared into her eyes. Her lids were heavy and her pupils were dilated, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted. There was no way he was leaving without having her.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He said, walking her backwards until he had her pressed up against the door. She wore a thin knit jumper over her simple black skirt that was easily pulled over her head and dropped to the floor at their feet. Impatient fingers tugged her bra cups down so that her breasts were offered up to him on a shelf of white lace.

“Lucius, we can’t…not in a public place!” She protested orally while still clutching the back of his head as he swirled his tongue around one nipple and then the other.

“Yes, we can, we are.” He said around a puckered tip as he bunched her skirt higher. His eyes shifted upwards and he saw her watching him. He released the tight nipple from his mouth and tilted his head to the side. “You always watch when I put my mouth on you. Your eyes follow my hands when they move over you…why?” 

“I…I like seeing your hands on me, I like seeing your mouth on me…it makes what I’m feeling more intense somehow.” She answered. “Is that wrong?”

“No, it’s not wrong I’ve just never experienced anything like it. I like having your eyes on me when I’m making love to you, I like knowing that you aren’t lying there thinking of someone else, thinking of England.” He smirked.

“As if I could think about anything at all when you touch me.” She drew in a sharp, noisy breath when he slid to his knees and pressed his lips to the softness of her belly. “Oh, that tickles.” She said, her stomach muscles twitching beneath his lips.

“You like to watch…make sure you watch closely.” His words tickled against her skin as he pushed her skirt all the way up so that it bunched around her waist. “Oh bloody hell!” He swore. 

“What?” She asked. 

She was wearing _them_, those white knickers with the little blue bow that he had seen lying on the top of her every present laundry. He swallowed hard and slid his hands down to her hips, holding her tight and still in front of him. 

“Those have haunted my dreams for longer than you know.” He said hoarsely. “I saw them…lying on top of your laundry basket….it was when I began to realize that I desired you…you don’t know how close I am to soiling my trousers right now seeing you in them.”

“Does that mean we are done…because we can’t do anything with them still on…” She croaked. Lucius looked up at her with a sinister grin that had chills racing up her spine.

“Is that what you think?” He arched one silvery brow and leaned forward, pulling the powder blue bow between his teeth and snapping her waist band. He followed the line across her belly with the tip of his tongue while his fingertips traveled along the lacy edge at her thighs. He looked up to make sure she was watching, of course she was. He tucked his fingers beneath the lace and pulled it to the side, revealing her swollen and damp sex. His lips twisted smugly when she gasped. “Oh the things you’ve yet to learn my innocent little witch.” He chuckled, leaning forward to press his lips against the short curls crowning her.

“What are you doing?” She squeaked. 

“What I wanted to do all weekend, but I couldn’t because I was addicted to the feel of being inside you. But I wanted to taste you so damned badly and now I’m going to get the chance.” He ran his fingertips between the tight folds, separating the petals and revealing the wet pink flesh within. “Don’t make any noise, My Love, you have customers and such outside.” She braced herself but nothing prepared her for the sight of his long tongue sliding between her folds. Her knees nearly buckled and she had to grab the back of his head, her hands fisting in his hair and holding on for dear life as he began to tongue her pussy in earnest. 

She watched, fascinated by the image of him on his knees before her, his tongue delving in and out of her slit. She was sweating, trembling uncontrollably as he serviced her with his oh so talented mouth. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy his endeavor as well, moaning against her as he savored the tangy sweet flavor of his witch. Volume control was becoming difficult as he pushed her higher and closer to orgasm. When she would start getting loud he would squeeze her thigh in warning and she would make the effort to stifle her sounds of pleasure. It wasn’t easy, he was killing her with the ecstasy of his tongue. He used his fingers to spread her wide and then with his eyes up and locked with hers he pulled her clit between his lips and sucked. 

She pushed her knuckles between her teeth, stifling her scream of unbridled joy as her orgasm threatened to bring her to her knees. Not that it would have mattered if her legs _had_abandoned her, for Lucius was on his feet before the last pulses of her climax had ebbed, his trousers open already as he lifted her with his hands on her arse and brought her legs around his waist.

She held on tight, her arms looped around his neck as he pushed up into her still throbbing channel. He groaned as tissues still swollen from her orgasm convulsed involuntarily around him. She would have thought that such a position would be rough and fast but he moved slowly and purposefully, dragging his cock through her tight, clasping flesh again and again. 

“Gods you make me crazy.” He breathed against her neck. “You taste heavenly and feel even better.”

“Lucius….oh gods…” She could barely get words out, stringing together a coherent thought or comment was out of the question. 

“I didn’t come here for this…” He groaned, his thrusts becoming faster and driving his cock deeper into her body. “I’m going to come….ah gods!” He thrust hard and deep, holding himself still inside her as his essence spilled from the tip of his cock, filling her with his milky release. 

“Oh my.” She giggled, hugging him tight as he throbbed and twitched inside her. “You certainly know how to make a witch’s day memorable don’t you?”

“Well, making you happy has become one of my top priorities.” He said, kissing her cheek, her nose and then her lips.

“Really?” She asked softly, her smile stealing another little piece of his heart.

“Really.” He kissed her again, his lips lingering against hers. “Wand?”

“In my coat pocket, yours?” 

“On your desk….hold on.” He dug his fingers into her bottom and whirled her away from the door without withdrawing his slowly deflating the member. She laughed, her arms and legs holding on tight as he carried her the short distance to the desk and reached for his cane, quickly sliding his wand from the hollowed shaft. He sat her on the edge of the desk and slowly eased away from her, casting a gentle cleansing spell on them both before they righted their clothing.

“I can’t believe we just had sex in here.” She said as she pulled her jumper back over her head and shook out her hair.

“If you don’t fix your skirt and cover those knickers we are going to do it again.” He said staring at the lacy scrap stretched across her hips.

“Naughty wizard.” She laughed, as she adjusted her skirt to fall properly around her legs once more. Before she could look up from making sure that she was covered she found herself pulled once more into his arms, his hand on her cheek tilting her head back so he could look into her eyes.

“I adore you, you know that…don’t you?” He said softly. 

“You make it very clear.” She smiled.

“Good, I don’t want you doubting my feelings for you.” He kissed her lips again and then set her away from him. “I must go else I’ll stay here all day kissing and making love to you and neither of us will get anything done.” 

“You’ll be over tonight?” She asked hopefully.

“Nothing could keep me away.” He said, gathering his cloak and robe from her desk and donning both. “Walk me out?” 

Hermione smiled and opened the office door, Lucius following her into the main area of the store. Applause sounded from Draco and Jessa who were leaning against the front counter. Draco put his fingers between his teeth and whistled as though he were at a Quidditch match. 

“Dearest, it’s a damn good thing it’s a slow time and we have no customers.” Jessa said, smiling at the embarrassed expressions on their faces.

“That was one hell of a door banger.” Draco said. “I thought the damn thing was going to rattle off its hinges.”

“Shut up, Draco.” Lucius frowned and turned to Hermione, quickly bussing her lips with his. “I’ll see you tonight, my Darling.” He said softly before grabbing Draco by the shoulder and steering him from the store.

“Oh honey…the answer to my question is all over your face.” Jessa said quietly as she watched Hermione stare after Lucius. She was definitely in love, even if she didn’t recognize it.


	23. Beautiful Words

****

**Chapter 23: Beautiful Words**

_Where what they didn’t say says volumes._

Hermione finished cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and made her way into the front room. Lucius was sitting on the sofa reading a book she had left on the coffee table and Elias, to her surprise was asleep in the chair. Smiling, she knelt down beside the chair and pushed the sandy curls back from his face.

“Elias, wake up baby it’s time for a bath.” She said softly. Big blue eyes opened slowly and blinked at her in bleary confusion.

“Can I take one in the morning, Mummy? I’m so sleepy.” He said, yawning wide. Hermione smiled and helped him sit up, laughing when his head bobbed as he tried to keep himself awake. 

“I guess fishing with your brother wore you out.” She was thrilled that Draco had taken such an interest in spending time with Elias. She had fretted over whether or not he would be able to look past Elias’s conception and love his brother. Obviously it had been a wasted effort because she could see that Draco adored him and Elias adored him in return. 

“We ap’rated to Spam and Draco has a big boat with a bedroom and a kitchen and a loo.” Elias said sleepily. “But he let me pee off the side right into the water, it was fun.”

“It’s Spain, Elias and your brother lets you get by with too much.” Lucius said, coming up from behind Hermione and lifting Elias into his arms. “Too tired for a story tonight?” 

“Yeah, I am so sleepy, Daddy.” He snuggled into his father’s chest as Lucius carried him down the hall to his bedroom. Together they managed to get the sleepy, uncooperative child into a pair of pajamas and tucked into his bed. With soft kisses to his brow they turned out the light and let their sleepy child rest. 

“Unusual for him to fall asleep so early.” Hermione said when they stepped out into the hall.

“Draco had him fishing for hours.” Lucius said as he wrapped his arms around her. “The sun and the sea air just wore him out, we should take advantage of the extra alone time.” The heated look in his eyes had the flesh between her thighs tingling instantly.

“I was going to have a bath.” She said hoarsely, her eyes closing and a tiny moan escaping as he palmed her buttocks.

“I’ll join you.” He said, tickling the lobe of her ear with his tongue and nibbling teeth.

“My tub isn’t as large as yours.” The image of his _pool_, misnamed as bathtub, came to mind next to her cast iron claw-foot tub.

“I don’t mind. The closer your naked body is to mine the better.” He raked his teeth lightly along her neck and smiled against her skin when she shivered. “Why don’t you go run us a bath and I’ll lock up?” She jumped when his hand connected sharply with her bottom, her eyes wide at his playfulness. He was certainly in a good mood and that boded well for her.

With a wary yet amused expression she slid out of his arms and into the bathroom where she began filling the large white tub with hot water and vanilla-cinnamon bath oil since she figured he would protest smelling of wild roses. She undressed, tossing her clothes into the hamper that never seemed to be empty, and piled her hair high atop her head, securing it with a bright red clip before stepping into the steamy, fragrant water. She sighed as her aching legs and feet were soothed by the heat, closing her eyes and moaning softly.

“Starting without me?” Lucius asked as he stepped through the door and into the bathroom. He was struck by the sight of her, her legs drawn up with her arms wrapped around them and her cheek resting on her knees. Stray curls evaded her attempt to tame them and lay in enticing little springs along the back of her neck and shoulders. He had left his shoes and socks in her living room along with his belt when he was locking up. He propped his cane up against the sink and unbuttoned his shirt, unable to take his eyes off of her.

She was smiling at him. That soft, adoring smile that was so filled with innocence that it made him feel guilty, yet so damned lucky at the same time. He pushed his suspenders off of his shoulders and pulled his shirt free of his trousers, letting the fine cotton slide off of his arms. He draped his discarded shirt over the stool in front of her dressing table and moved on to his trousers, loving the way her eyes roved over his body. When he was as naked as she was he reached out and swiped his hand over the switch on the wall and whispered a spell that illuminated the tiny jarred candles scattered about the small room. 

“Feeling romantic?” She asked quietly. 

“Seductive might be a better word.” He said. She edged forward as he slid into the tub behind her. He positioned his legs on either side of her and pulled her back so that she reclined against him. 

“You know you don’t need all this to seduce me, all you have to do is kiss me and I melt.” She relaxed into him, her fingertips sliding up and down his lightly furred forearm idly. 

“But you deserve to be seduced, you deserve to be romanced.” He kissed the side of her neck gently and she actually purred. “Besides, I find that I enjoy it. I like seeing you smile, Hermione.

“You are so sweet.” She tried not to let it sound as though she was surprised but in truth she was. She never dreamed that he had such kindness in him and certainly never thought it would be directed at her.

“Have I ever told you how much I like the way you look at me?” He asked, his wet hand sliding across her chest and up her throat until he was cupping her chin in his hand and turning her head so that he could look into her eyes. “You damn near devour me with those eyes of yours.”

“You are beautiful. It doesn’t seem right that a man your age should look so good.” She said with that sweet little smile on her face.

“I’m not subject to the same aging process as muggle men. I likely won’t show any recognizable signs of aging until I am well into my second century.” He caressed her jaw with his thumb. “And you will always look so much younger than I.”

“You are very fit, Lucius Malfoy.” She said, nipping at his stroking thumb when it passed over her lips. 

“I try.” He said arrogantly. “I confess that I like to look my best and I find physical exercise to be a tremendous stress reliever. It was one of the only things that kept me sane when I was in Azkaban.”

“I still feel guilty that you spent all that time thinking you had..hurt...me.” She grabbed his wrist and pressed a kiss into his palm then laid it against the center of her chest where he could feel the pounding of her heart.

“I don’t want to think about those days. I don’t want them to dampen the happiness I have found with you and our son.” He pressed his lips to hers, needing to feel that intimate connection with her that he had come to crave. The way she surrendered herself to him, her lips parting and her soft breath releasing on a sigh, it made him dizzy with desire. 

“What are you doing?” 

Hermione and Lucius pulled apart abruptly and turned towards the door. Elias stood there in his pajamas, his hand clutching the front of his bottoms as he stared at them in sleepy confusion.

“What are you doing up?” Hermione asked.

“I have to pee. Why are you and Daddy in the bath together?” He asked. “Why are the lights off, is there a storm?” 

“No…we um…” Hermione had her arms crossed over her chest, covering her breasts as she stammered for an explanation.

“We are very sleepy and wanted a bath before bed, it saves time to do it together.” Lucius said simply. Hermione turned to look at him, amazed at how quickly and easily the fibs came to him.

“Oh.” Elias turned and walked clumsily towards the toilet, lifting the lid and adjusting his clothing.

“Do you have no privacy at all?” Lucius asked as Elias did his business, humming to himself and swaying sleepily. 

“Not with a four year old in the house.” Hermione said honestly. “Elias, Baby, watch what you’re doing!” She said as he swayed a little more and missed the toilet. 

“Okay.” He mumbled, flushing and washing his hands before staggering out the door and back to his room.

“The boy has impeccable timing.” Lucius sighed.

“It’s not like we could accomplish much in this little bathtub.” She teased.

“You’d be surprised.” He drawled, pushing his hips up so that she felt his hardness pressing into her backside.

“Mmm…but it would make a mess…_your_ bathtub on the other hand is perfectly suited for such things.” She pushed her bottom back against him, giving it a little wiggle that had him hissing through his teeth and wrapping his arms around her.

“Saucy little witch, aren’t you?” He growled against her ear.

“I think we should take this to my room.” She said softly.

“Very well.” He reached behind him for his cane and used his wand to disapparate them both to her bedroom.

“My gods, Lucius! Warn a witch before you just vanish with her!” She had her hand pressed to her stomach as she tried to catch her breath. Lucius just laughed and ran his wand over them both, drying them off in an instant.

“You’re safe with me, My Darling, I’d never hurt you.” He said as he released her and watched her walk across the room to the bed and sit down.

“You keep saying it as though you think you need to convince me. You don’t need to convince me, Lucius, I know you would never hurt me.” She looked up and saw him standing near the window, beautifully naked and cast in silvery moonlight from the window. He looked like a statue, as though every inch of his muscled body were carved from marble. He walked towards her and she could barely catch her breath. When did that reaction wear off? When would she stop turning into a puddle of want every time she looked at him?

“Your trust means everything to me.” He said, stopping right in front of her. He reached for her shoulders, his intent was to urge her back onto the bed and cover her with his body but she laid her hands on his hips and stayed him.

“Lucius…what you did to me earlier…in my office…I want to do to you.” She managed, despite her flaming cheeks. He didn’t say anything in reply. He reached for the clip holding her hair and released it, tossing it across the room where it slid beneath the bureau forgotten. Her curls tumbled down around her shoulders and he pushed them back away from her face, caressing her jaw and the side of her neck with gentle fingers. His thumb stroked her bottom lip for a moment then with the lightest pressure he urged her to open, sliding his thumb between them. She sucked the invading digit gently, her tongue swirling around it and tasting the salty flavor of his skin before he withdrew and circled her lips with his wet finger.

“Open.” He ordered softly, grasping the base of his cock with his other hand as he once more cupped her chin and tilted her head back slightly. The look on his face was so intense, so hot and feral that she felt heat wash over her, settling between her thighs as her sex grew slick and swollen. She kept her eyes wide open and trained on his face as he pressed the hot tip of his erection against her lips. It was a bit unnerving to have her watching him so intently yet it was arousing at the same time. He only hoped he could keep it together long enough to make it as enjoyable for her as he knew it would be for him.

Her mouth closed over the head, enveloping him in scalding heat. He had held tight to the base, keeping his foreskin retracted and his orgasm at bay as the rough pad of her tongue pressed up and rubbed against the sensitive underside. With his hand on her chin he guided her in a slow sliding motion with her mouth, thrusting gently between her lips. It was a challenge to keep from pushing deeper but it was her first time and he didn’t want to do anything that might turn her against the practice. She pleasured him the way she did everything, with open curiosity and a determination to be the best. What she lacked in technique she made up for in enthusiasm, suckling and licking at his shaft, her eyes locked with his the entire time until he couldn’t take it anymore and nudged her away.

“No more.” He gasped, the disappointed look on her face caused him to groan and made him long to give her back the _treat_ she so obviously craved. Her lips were wet, swollen and looked so damned soft that he couldn’t stop himself from bending down and taking them with his own. He eased her back onto the mattress, rolling with her until his back was against the sheets and she was stretched out over him. He couldn’t stop kissing her, his hands sliding down her back and over her bottom, caressing the smooth curves of her waist and hips. He could feel the tight points of her nipples digging into his chest and spread his hands across her back and held her against him.

She spread her legs, straddling his waist and bracing her hands on either side of his head as she pulled away from his kiss. Her hair enshrouded them as she perched over him, her breath coming in heavy pants while she slowly moved her hips, rubbing her sex against the firm muscled ridges of his stomach. He grasped her hips and edged her back until the tip of his cock nudged her wet cleft, slipping between the plump folds and easing into her. She rocked back on her knees, settling herself firmly onto his lap and burying his erection fully inside her. 

“Lucius…oh!” Her expression was a combination of surprise and arousal. Her hands were pressed firmly to his chest, her dark pubic hair mingling with his lighter curls. He could feel the walls of her vagina pulsing around him in an erotic massage of his aching cock. 

“My gods you look beautiful.” He said on a loud exhalation of breath. She sat up straight, her hair draping over her shoulders, the moonlight catching the streaks of auburn and fiery gold running through it, illuminating her from behind. Her plump red lips and heavy lust filled gaze made him think of a succubus, a beautiful creature come to seduce him and steal his soul. He decided that it was his heart at risk more than his soul when it came to the siren slowly beginning to awaken at his tutelage. “Ride me, Siren, take me.” 

She whimpered, aroused by his words and the look in his eyes. She felt sexy when he stared at her with such passion and want. And when he touched her so gently, one hand clutching her hip and the other resting against her belly, his thumb nestling into the top of her slit and pressing into the hard bud of her clit, she felt desired and dare she say it….loved?

With his hands guiding her she began to move, a slow rocking motion that slid her up and down his length causing a friction that had her gasping and curling her fingers into his chest. As his thumb circled the firm nubbin between her thighs her movements became more fluid and sensual, a rolling, undulating motion that had him moaning and rubbing her more quickly. A fine sweat broke out, the sheen of moisture catching the moonlight and making his balls twitch at the beauty of it.

“That’s it…gods you are stunning…” She made an inarticulate sound and fell forward, her hands sliding from his chest to the bed where they curled into the quilt beside his head. 

“I want more.” She moaned, her plea sounding whiny to her ears but it sounded like music to his.

“More? Like this?” He arched up into her and she screamed through clenched teeth as pleasure raced through her.

“Yeeessssss!” She hissed, pushing her hips down aggressively when he thrust upwards. She could feel him, every long thick inch of him slamming into her and carrying her higher. He moved his hand from between her legs, her new angle ensuring clitoral stimulation with ever desperate shift of her hips. He lifted his head and captured one of the pert nipples dancing above him with his lips, curling his tongue around it and sucking it into his mouth, nursing gently.

It was like an electrical current running from nipple to clit that had her nearly sobbing in a desperate search for release. She was tense and he could feel it in the way her muscles trembled, in the way she ground her pelvis into his, nearly out of control in her lust. He loved it, loved seeing her so wild and free, loved being the one to bring her to such a point. 

“That’s it…you feel so damned good wrapped around me.” He groaned, rolling his hips and grinding his cock into her. “Come on…let go….come for me.” He whispered, his voice vibrating against her sensitive nipple as he continued to suckle and nibble between words. “Let me feel it…let me feel you tighten around me.” 

She quickened her movements, taking him deeper than she ever dreamed possible, her thighs beginning to ache and quiver from exertion. Then she felt it, those first flutters of nirvana coming for her. The heat in her belly burned hotter, the coil of need pulling tighter and then, with a final thrust deep inside her it released. The heat washed over her as orgasm overtook her. She cried out, loud and long, her body shuddering and pulsing around him as he too lost himself to the euphoria of release, coming inside her and bathing her womb with his seed. She fell on top of him, her body still shaking as she sobbed against his shoulder. His breathing was ragged and his head was spinning but he held her regardless, stroking her back and murmuring soft love words in her ear. 

“Are you alright?” He asked softly. He’d never had a woman cry after an orgasm before. Had he done something wrong?

“I’m fine.” She sniffled, laughing lightly at the same time. She lifted her head and looked at him, fat tears clinging to her lashes as she smiled. “That was intense. I think I like being on top.”

“Do you now?” He swiped his thumbs over her tears and wiped them away, confused by such an emotional response to her release. “Will you cry every time you get on top?”

“I guess it depends on how intense the orgasm is. That one nearly killed me…in a good way.” She said still smiling. “I can still feel you throbbing inside me.”

“I can still feel your greedy little pussy pulsing around me.” He smirked.

“You are a bad man, Lucius Malfoy.” She said, her cheeks blushing furiously.

“How is it that you can still blush at such a time over a silly word when you were just going wild in my arms a moment ago?” He asked, spearing his fingers through the curls at her temples and pushing her hair back from her face.

“I’m still trying to get used to this…to sharing your bed and making love with you. I guess it just takes time to get used to it is all.” She bit into her bottom lip and smiled, lifting his head to nip at it too. 

“I like it…I like it that you are always surprised, always overwhelmed and always so honest. I don’t think I want you to get used to it, My Darling. I think that I want to see the rose in your cheeks, always.” He kissed her, a soft brushing of lips that ended when he carefully withdrew from her body and rolled her onto her back. “Somehow the air seems cleaner, fresher when you are breathing it too.”

“You say such beautiful things that I don’t know how to reply sometimes.” She said softly as he shifted her up onto the pillows and curled up beside her. He laid his head on the soft pillows of her breasts, his arm draped across her waist.

“You make me happy, witch.” He said sleepily, his lids falling closed as oblivion swept over him. Above his head Hermione smiled, her fingers moving idly through his hair. 

“Now that was probably the most beautiful thing you’ve ever said to me.”


	24. Storm Clouds Gather

****

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Storm Clouds Gather**

_Where the happiness they have found is threatened._

Lucius Malfoy opened his eyes just as the bedroom door creaked open in the early morning hours. It was early even by Elias’s young body clock. As the little boy shuffled towards the bed Lucius realized why Hermione insisted that they redress after they made love, knocking wasn’t in the child’s vocabulary.

“What’s the matter, Son?” Lucius said softly so as not to wake the witch sprawled beside him. 

“I don’t feel good.” Elias said, his little voice sounding a little weak and so very sad. Lucius wasn’t sure what to do when Elias pulled back the blankets and crawled into bed beside him so he just scooted in closer to the center of the bed and watched as his son settled in. He could feel the incredible amount of heat being generated by the little body beside him and reached out to lay his hand against his forehead. He was burning up, his skin on fire despite the fact that he shivered to the point that Lucius thought it must be painful.

“Elias, how long have you been feeling poorly?” Lucius asked as he sat up in the center of the bed and reached behind him to shake Hermione awake.

“What’s going on?” She asked sleepily, lifting her head. Lucius snapped his fingers and barked out a sharp “Lumos”, causing the lamps at her bedside to flare to life.

“Elias is ill.” He reached out for their son and pulled him into his lap. 

“Sorry, Mummy, I throwed up in my bed.” He said, barely able to hold his head up or his eyes open. Hermione was instantly awake and reaching out to feel his forehead as well. 

“It’s alright, Baby, Mummy will clean it up later…you are burning up!” She said worriedly as she kicked her legs free of the blankets and hopped out of the bed. She disappeared into the hall and was back a few seconds later carrying a strange looking white device with buttons on it. 

“What is that?” Lucius asked, still holding Elias draped over his lap.

“It’s a muggle thermometer; it takes a temperature reading from his ear.” She pressed the narrow end into his ear and pressed a button, pulling it back when it beeped and staring at the reading with wide eyes. “We need to get him into a cool bath and try to lower his temperature, its way to high.” 

Lucius slid to the edge of the bed and carried Elias across the hall to the bathroom where Hermione was already running water in the tub. They didn’t waste time trying to get him out of his pajamas, Hermione used her wand to undress him instead. Lucius eased the little boy into the water, kneeling at the tub-side when Elias clutched at his arm.

“The water’s cold, Daddy!” He began to cry and Lucius felt his chest tightening as he stared at his son in the harsh fluorescent lights of the bathroom. He was so pale and his blue eyes were filled with tears as he held on to Lucius’s arm and shivered.

“It feels colder than it is because you have a fever, Elias. Just be a brave boy for me and sit still, alright?” Lucius eased away from him but held on to his little hand as Hermione slid in beside him with a washcloth to sponge him down.

“Lucius….look at this!” Hermione gasped as she leaned aside so Lucius could see his son’s back. Small pink blisters marred his smooth skin. Hermione told Elias to lean back and they could see that the blisters were on his stomach and chest as well. “It looks like…chicken pox or…measles”

“No…it’s not a muggle illness.” Lucius shoved quickly to his feet and jerked a large towel from the rack. “Get him out of the tub, Hermione, and wrap him in this. I’m calling my personal healer and telling him to meet us right away at the manor.” He shoved the towel at Hermione and stormed from the room quickly. 

Confused, she wrapped Elias in the towel and lifted him into her arms. She made it to the lounge just in time to hear Lucius barking a summons into her fireplace as he shoved his wand back into his cane. He turned to her and quickly pulled Elias into his arms.

”Lucius, what’s happening, what’s wrong with Elias?” She asked worriedly. Lucius was acting strangely and the wild look in his eyes told her that maybe it wasn’t a typical childhood illness that afflicted their son.

“Dragon Pox.” He said tightly before wrapping his arm around her and disapparating them to the foyer of Malfoy Manor. 

“What? How? I thought that it had been wiped out in the early part of the twentieth century!” Her heart was racing and she became nauseated, her head spinning. Dragon Pox had killed thousands of witches and wizards in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It had swept through England like the plague resisting healing spells and potions until the strain weakened and eventually died out.

“It died out, it wasn’t eradicated.” He said, taking the stairs two at a time as he raced towards Elias’s room. As they rounded the corner into the hall Draco stepped out of his room, his hair mussed and he was tying the sash of his robe around his waist.

“What’s going on?” He asked, his brow furrowed in concern when he saw Elias limp and wrapped in a towel in his father’s arms. “What happened?”

“Elias is ill…Lucius said it was Dragon Pox…Draco he’s really freaking me out.” Hermione said, her voice trembling as she watched Lucius lay Elias gently on the bed and pull the covers up around him.

“He’s terrified.” Draco said quietly, laying his hand on Hermione’s shoulder, fear beginning to seep into his gut and make him nauseous. “Granger…my grandfather died of Dragon Pox.”

****

**~@~**

Hermione stood helpless while the healer looked over her son once more. It had been four days and Elias was no better. He was still burning with fever, his little body wracked with tremors as he mumbled nonsense in his delirium. The little blisters were growing, spreading down his arms and legs and marring his sweet little face. Her heart was broken and her eyes and throat burned from the tears while her body ached in fear. She couldn’t help him. She could do nothing but sit and watch as the illness ravaged his tiny frame.

She was paralyzed with the fear of losing her son and she could see that the same fear held Lucius in his grasp. He hadn’t left Elias for more than a few moments at a time since he padded into her bedroom and woke them up. He was disheveled and his face rough with several days growth of beard. He wouldn’t eat and barely drank anything as he watched over their child. 

“How is he?” Lucius asked the healer. 

“I’m afraid he’s no better than yesterday. He’s no worse, but I expected the fever to have broken by this point. He can’t go on like this for long, he’s too young and too small to withstand the dehydration and damage the illness is doing to his young body.” The healer pushed his glasses up his nose and shook his head. “I am sorry, Mr. Malfoy. I wish I had better news for you.” 

“Get out. Just get out.” Lucius croaked, the words barely making a sound as he closed his eyes. The healer understood and didn’t take offense, he just closed his bag and left the small family alone. 

“I can’t stand this!” Draco said as he moved across the room with tears burning his eyes. He leaned against the wall and stared out the window as sleet pelted the glass. Hermione stood silently, tears rolling freely down her cheeks. She could say nothing as she sat on the edge of the mattress and stared at the little boy she loved more than herself. The child she struggled to bring into the world and lived every day of her life for. The child she may lose. 

Lucius slid to his knees at the bed side, Elias’s tiny hand clutched in his as he lowered his head until it touched the blankets and hid his face. His shoulders shook and Hermione and Draco both knew that he wept. 

“I’m not a religious man, I never have been so I don’t know how to do this…but if there is a god or gods….please hear me.” He whispered, not caring that his family listened. “Save my son. I know that I am not deserving, I know that I have done nothing in my life to be worthy of the gifts I have been given but please…don’t take my son. If a life must be sacrificed then take mine, I give it freely because everyone knows I have squandered it. I will do anything, give anything to save him. Please.” 

He was praying and the sound of it nearly destroyed her. Draco couldn’t take it and he left the room. Hermione reached across the bed and laid her hand on the back of his head, trying to comfort him.

“Lucius, you need to rest.” She said softly.

“No. This is my fault.” He said, lifting his head to reveal his red and swollen eyes. “This is punishment for my past. The sins of the father are visited upon the son. I was a horrible man, did horrible things and now my son is going to pay for them. I did this, I brought this on our family. He is ill because I am evil.”

“It’s not your fault, Lucius.” She sobbed. “He’s ill because…because he caught a germ…he picked something up or touched it or knowing Elias _ate_ it and it made him sick. You aren’t evil, you love him, I know you do and so does he.”

“I do love him, I do. But maybe if I hadn’t come into his life…”

“Don’t say that, Lucius. You have made him…and me….so very happy. Never say that you wish you hadn’t found us.” She leaned over Elias and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, resting her cheek against his hair. 

****

**~@~**

Lucius and Hermione slept lightly, curled together on a small sofa in the corner near Elias’s bed. It was late, the moon was high in the sky though its light was dimmed by the dark clouds, heavy with the first snow of winter moving in. Elias lay silently in his bed, his chest rising and falling slowly as he slept on. He hadn’t opened his eyes in two days and the family had begun to prepare themselves for the worst. 

“Master…Mistress…” A small voice called hesitantly, hating to disturb the sleeping couple. Lucius opened his eyes slightly and stared at the servant standing beside them with his head bowed. 

“What is it, Neil?” He asked in a groggy tone.

“There is a guest in the foyer, Sir. A friend of the Mistress.” He said. “She says it was important.” 

“Send her up.” Lucius said, figuring it was probably Potter’s wife or Molly Weasley. He shook Hermione gently, smiling slightly when she protested and snuggled deeper into his chest. “Wake up, my Darling, we have company.” He said, sitting up and taking her with him. 

“I’m so tired.” She said, yawning as she looked to the bed and watched to be certain that Elias’s chest still moved with life. “Who’s here?” She asked.

“I am.” Lucius and Hermione both gasped in shock when they saw Jessa strolling through the bedchamber door behind a house-elf that vanished almost immediately. “Surprised to see me?” 

“Jessa! What…how…you…” Hermione stammered, her heart racing and her mind reeling as she struggled for an explanation.

“Don’t…it’s alright, Hermione.” Jessa said softly as she dropped her purse onto the floor.

“How did you know where to find me?” She asked.

“I received your message about Elias’s illness and your leave of absence. I rang your house but no one answered so I figured you must be here.” She said as she sat on the edge of Elias’s bed and stared at him. “It took me some time to find Ronald Weasley and get him to disapparate me here.” She turned back to smile at them. “I think it’s time I explain a few things to you.”

“You….you’re a witch?” Hermione gasped.

“A squib actually…of sorts.” Jessa answered.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Hermione asked. 

“I don’t talk about it, for very good reasons. Hermione…what I am about to tell you…I hope you won’t hold it against me.” She said. “You see, my mother was a muggle and my father…well, he was a wizard, a pure-blood. They were lovers for a long time and to their surprise she became pregnant. She thought that he loved her, thought he would marry her but she was wrong. He laughed at her, told her he could never marry a muggle, wouldn’t even consider it, she wasn’t suitable. He told her she should get rid of the baby and when she refused he began to distance himself from her. When he realized I was a girl AND a squib…well, he disappeared all together. Mother and I did fine on our own and then, when I was about thirteen we realized that while I wasn’t able to use magic or wield a wand I _was_ gifted. I could heal people, I can heal people. It was shortly after that discovery that the man I told you about came for us and hid us away.” She took a deep breath and steeled herself for the next part. “Hermione…Lucius…my father is Morfin Gaunt.”

“That’s why you look so familiar to me.” Lucius said quietly. “I met your father a few times…no offense, Jessa, but you were better off without him in your life.”

“I heard all about him when I got older. Mother said that he was rather handsome and charming when he was a young man but there was always a darkness, an ugliness inside him that seemed to be growing over time.” She said. “Hermione, do you know what that means?”

“The Gaunt’s were related to Tom Riddle.” She said, stunned by the confession.

“Lord Voldemort is…was…my cousin. That is why I kept my parentage a secret. I don’t want to be judged because I’m related to the man who nearly destroyed the wizarding world.”

“Well you are certainly the most attractive member of that gods forsaken family.” Draco said from the doorway. No one had heard him enter but he apparently had listened to the entire confession.

“Thanks…do you hate me, Hermione?” She asked, her voice small and for the first time since Hermione had known her she sounded unsure of herself.

“No…I don’t hate you, Jessa. You are _not_ your family. Just because his blood runs in your veins it doesn’t mean you are the same.” She said. “I wish you’d have told me earlier, it would have made life a tad easier at work.” 

Jessa threw her arms around Hermione and hugged her tight, kissing her cheek as she let the weight of the world lift from her shoulders. She drew back and took a deep breath, smiling through her tears at Hermione, Lucius and Draco.

“Alright…now that we have that out of the way…I’m here to heal your son.” She said softly.

“Jessa…Elias has contracted Dragon Pox…the healer has done all that he can…” Hermione trailed off as Jessa smiled and shook her head. She turned to Elias and drew the blankets down to his feet. She pushed the sleeves of her knit shirt up to her elbows and pressed one hand to his forehead and the other to his abdomen. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. In through her nose and out of her mouth. The three of them watched as a miracle unfolded. The sores that marred his skin began to fade slowly and the trembling that had wracked his feverish form ceased. Color began to rise, turning his skin from a sickly pallor to a healthy pink. 

And then the most incredible thing happened. Elias opened his eyes and stared at Jessa then turned his head to look at his family.

“I’m hungry.” He said hoarsely. The laughter coming from his family was punctuated with sobs as his parents launched themselves at the bed, hugging him and kissing his cheeks as he wriggled between them. “I can’t breathe!” Elias squealed, looking at them strangely when they pulled away, their eyes wet with tears. “Draco, they are not acting like Mummy and Daddy, they are acting weird...did they get some poltergeist potion?”

“Polyjuice potion, Elias, and no…they’re your real parents, they are just happy to see you feeling better.” Draco said smiling as he reached out to ruffle his brother’s hair. Relief was rushing through him on a surge of adrenaline that had him itching to fly. “As am I, Little Man.”

“I’m still hungry.” Elias grumbled, looking at the people gathered round him warily. Just then Nonie the house-elf popped into the room, a tray of food in her hands.

“Nonie is here Master Elias.” She said, elbowing her way to the bedside and conjuring a small table for the tray. “Nonie will gets the Master fed and bathed and Bob and Neil will clean the Master’s room so the family can visit.”

Lucius’s eyes widened at the boldness of his servant then he chuckled when he realized that the staff must be rejoicing in Elias’s recovery. He had heard it said that he was a better master because of Hermione and Elias. He _knew_ that he was a better man.

“I think we have been dismissed.” Hermione said smiling as she and Lucius eased off of the bed and out of the way as Nonie fussed over Elias and spoon fed him a bowl of soup while he chattered away. 

“Jessa…Ill never be able to thank you for this.” Hermione said through her tears as she looked at her friend.

“You don’t need to, Hermione. I adore Elias, it would break my heart to lose him too.” She stood and swayed, her knees buckling beneath her. Draco caught her just before she would have crumpled to the floor and lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest.

“If you wanted to be in my arms all you had to do was ask.” Draco smirked.

“Arrogant pup.” She muttered. “I need to rest, healing takes a lot out of me.”

“Draco, take her to the blue suite.” Lucius ordered. “She will stay here until she is fully restored.” 

“Thank you, Lucius.” She said weakly.

“It’s the very least I can do. I owe you, Jessa. Anything I have it in my power to give is yours.” He said, leaning in and kissing her cheek softly. 

“I just want to be a part of your family.” She said. “That is all I ever wanted, a family.”

“You are most certainly that.” Hermione squeezed her hand. And watched Draco carry her friend out of the room. 

“She saved our baby, Lucius.” Hermione said, tears still rolling from her eyes.

“She’s a good woman. I wish I could reward her as she deserves. It’s a shame Severus is no longer with us, I think he’d adore her.” Lucius said smiling. Hermione felt her stomach clench and she began to wonder….


	25. The Gift of Closure

****

**Chapter Twenty-five: The Gift of Closure**

_Where Hermione makes a confession of her own._

It was late in the afternoon and the Malfoy house was abuzz with visitors come to see Elias. The Healer was of course completely baffled but at Jessa’s request the family kept the real reason for his recovery a secret. Jessa revealed her history to Harry and the Weasley’s with great trepidation but found them just as willing to accept her as Hermione. It was overwhelming, but she basked in the acceptance and love of family for the first time and was content. 

She was sitting in one of a dozen or so of the Malfoy’s sitting rooms, quietly sipping her tea. She needed to get away from all the noise and needed a little space from the elder Malfoy son. He was a temptation she feared giving in to but he was determined and a woman could only fight her own nature for so long. She looked up when Harry, Ron and Hermione walked in, closing the door behind them before they sat on the sofa across from her.

“What? You three look like the harbingers of death!” Jessa laughed nervously as she stared back at them.

“Jessa….the man you told me about, the man who came and took you away…what was his name?” Hermione asked.

“His name was Severus. Severus Snape.” Jessa said, her eyes softening when she said his name. “Why?”

“I thought so. We knew him, Jessa. We knew him very well.” Hermione said. 

“You…you knew Severus? How…”

“He was our professor at Hogwarts…what do you know of our world?” Hermione asked. She needed to know so she would know how to tell the story.

“Not much. Only what my mother told me of my father and the little bit I could overhear later. I found out about the war and about Severus’s death from a woman in a candle shop who was a witch and a bit senile…everyone else thought she was just crazy but I knew….”

”Alright…Hogwarts is a school where wizards and witches go when they are young to learn about their history and the various aspects of magic. Severus Snape was our Potions Professor and for a short time he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts and even served as headmaster.” Hermione said.

“Professor Snape was also a member of Lord Voldemort’s army.” Harry said. Jessa gasped, her hand coming to her chest in shock. “When he was a very young man he joined the ranks willingly but shortly after he realized the error in his decision. You see…he loved my mother, loved her from the time he was a boy and Voldemort…Voldemort killed her and my father…he tried to kill me.” Harry lifted his shaggy fringe and showed her the scar on his forehead. “Snape was devastated…from that point on he served as a spy for a group called The Order of the Phoenix. He worked deeply within the ranks of the Dark Lord’s army and carried information back to the people who were working to destroy them. He protected me, for my mother.”

“Your mother is the woman…the woman he couldn’t save, the reason he was so determined to save me.” Jessa said tearfully.

“Yes, her name was Lily.” Harry said with a smile. 

“Lily...he wasn’t…I mean he always told me…?” She asked, peering closely to see if there was any likeness.

“No…he and my mother were never more than friends, though he did love her very much.” Harry answered, understanding the question she never asked.

“He was a right scary git…but he was bloody brilliant and the bravest man any of us have ever known.” Ron added quietly. 

“We were with him…when he died. We were there with him.” Hermione said, tears falling as she remembered. 

“He died a hero, still protecting me with his last breath. He gave me his memories, there is a spell that allows a wizard to create something called a pensive…it’s almost like watching a home movie only it’s magic.” Harry was at a loss to explain the process. “He gave me the tools, the knowledge to defeat Voldemort.”

“You? But you couldn’t have been more than a child!’ Jessa exclaimed.

“I’d been battling Voldemort since I was eleven. I was NEVER a child.” Harry joked. 

“We wanted you to know, wanted to tell you so that maybe you could get some closure.” Hermione said.

“How did he die?” She asked.

“He was attacked by Voldemort’s familiar, a giant snake called Nagini.” Ron said. “He is buried on the grounds of Hogwarts where a statue stands in his honor. If you like we can take you there.”

“I would like that very much.” She said. Harry, Hermione and Ron gathered around her and as a group they disapparated, taking her with them to the gates of the school. The gates immediately opened, recognizing the three who saved the school once upon a time. They led her away from the castle and into the large gardens, deep through the hedges and far away from the rosebushes stood a large, imposing statue of a man, robes billowing behind him, arms crossed and head held high as he looked into the distance at the castle. Around him grew every species of lily a person could imagine. On the base his epitaph was carved:

****

**Severus Snape  
January 9, 1960 – May 1, 1998**

**Beloved Hero, Potions Master, Headmaster   
And  
Friend**

**“Always.”**

“We buried him here where he could watch over the castle and its students as he had for the majority of his life.” Hermione said, smiling up at the scowling statue. She had insisted that it not be carved smiling because would have been livid, instead his ever present scowl was carved instead. Jessa moved forward slowly and knelt in front of the monument. She reached out and touched his name, tracing the letters etched into the cold stone. 

“He was gone for two years before I knew it. I heard it from that little old witch in the candle shop. I think I cried non-stop for months. I loved him, so much, even though he never loved me back.” Her tears splashed onto the stone, the tears of a woman finally getting answers, finally finding closure.

“Jessa, from what you told me he showed you affection, he was good to you and he showed you tenderness. That, from a man like Snape, was equal to a declaration of love. In truth it may have been the only way he was capable of saying it.” Hermione said as she knelt down beside her. “He was a man of many facets, he kept his feelings locked deep inside, never showing them. We believed he hated us yet he died to save us. Put himself at risk more than once for us before that. He even stepped in between us and a werewolf once. He was a good man, Jessa.”

“Yes, he was. And he did show me affection, and when he made love to me it was with nothing but tenderness.” Jessa smiled and wiped her tears away, looking up and to see the face of the man she had loved carved in stone. “Thank you for this. Thank you for telling me.” 

“We’d take you to his portrait inside the castle but he never comes to it. He came once about three years ago when the rumors about Elias somehow got to him in the other side. He was quite….irritated.” Ron said, shuddering.

“What rumors about Elias?” Jessa asked, turning to Hermione.

“When it got out that I came out of the war pregnant the rumors about the father were ridiculous. Both Harry and Ron were considered, Voldemort himself, a death eater rapist and Professor Snape in an attempt to ensure his legacy. No one ever considered Lucius. When Snape heard about it…and I don’t know how he heard such a thing wherever it is that we go after death, he entered his portrait to deny that he would ever sleep with one of his students. Especially a ‘Smart assed know it all like, Hermione Granger’.” Hermione said, rolling her eyes. “He found me annoying.”

“That certainly sounds like him.” Jessa said. “But there was never any way he could have been Elias’s father. Severus couldn’t have children. His father ruined his chances when he was just a child. Besides, he hated children.”

“Another indication that he felt more for you than he ever said, he confided in you. Something he did for no one else.” Hermione said smiling.

“But it was never what he felt for her.” Jessa said sadly.

“What he felt for my mother…it wasn’t pretty or tender, Jessa, it was obsessive and possessive. What he gave to you was different, very different.” Harry said. The cold wind blew in from the lake and the first snowflakes of winter danced down on top of them.

“We should get back.” Hermione said softly. 

“Goodbye, Severus. I love you still.” She whispered, before she turned away and followed them back to the gates where they took her back to the manor.

****

**~@~**

Late in the night, when the manor was empty and quiet, Elias tucked into his bed with the faithful Nonie at his side. Lucius Malfoy sat in the middle of his bed and guided a naked Hermione astride his lap. He steered her arms around his neck and adjusted her legs on either side of him so that her feet were flat on the mattress and her legs were bent at the knee. With his hands cupping her buttock he lifted her, the head of his erection sliding between her slippery folds and fitting into the niche of her opening before he lowered her along his length. 

She had been very emotional all evening and Lucius knew that she needed him as much as he needed her. It had been a frightening and stressful week and they both craved the connection and joy they found in each other. She was moving slowly yet urgently, sliding his shaft in and out of her body with a determined goal of finding that pleasured oblivion she only found with him. He held her tightly, enjoying the slide of her body against his, finding just as much pleasure in her body as she was finding in his as they found confirmed that they were alive, that they were together and all was as it should be. 

The tears that fell against his chest startled him. Hermione often cried at the point of an intense orgasm, it was a quirk he had found frightening at first but soon came to realize was just part of the release experience. She had never cried _during_ love making before.

“Hermione….shhhh….why are you crying?” He asked, trying to still her movements but she continued her slow, gliding motion against him. She tightened her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his, kissing the bridge of his nose and the furrows between his brows.

“It’s okay…just…oh god you feel good.” She said, her breathy moans growing louder as she tightened around him with impending release.

“Don’t cry….please….” He pleaded, trying not to get lost in the abandonment he saw in her face. She was controlled in her movements, not giving in to the urgency of her need but drawing it out with her slow undulating movements. He concentrated on the cues of her body, the way her breath grew more ragged and the increase in the volume of her little pleasure sounds. Her fingertips curled into his shoulders and the walls of her vagina began to flutter around him then all out spasm, clamping tightly and convulsing as she cried loudly and held on tight, still riding his cock through her orgasm until the slow, clasping slide of her sex pulled him over the edge with her and came deep inside her with a hoarse shout that he muffled against her shoulder, marking her in his passion with a little love bite.

She didn’t move away from him, instead she tried to get closer but it was an impossible feat. With her head laying on his shoulder she cried, her body trembling with each sob. He understood, she was overwhelmed by all that had transpired with their son and the emotional situation with Jessa, she needed to let it out but it made his heart ache to have her weeping in his arms. 

“Hermione, are you alright?” He asked softly, stroking her back up and down. 

“I love you.” She whispered.

“What?” He tried to pull her back so he could look at her but she tightened her arms around his neck and held on. 

“No, please don’t push me away.” She cried, hanging on to him as though he was all that kept her from shattering into a thousand tiny pieces. “I love you, I had to say it. I don’t want to take the chance that something might happen and I never told you, I don’t want you to doubt it. I love you, Lucius, I do.” 

He reached up to loosen her arms from around his neck but she still wasn’t willing to let him go so he laid back on the bed, rolling with her until he had her beneath him, his cock still lodged deep and half erect inside her. 

“Let go, My Darling, or at least loosen your hold so I can breathe.” He said softly. She relaxed her hold enough that he could lift up slightly and look into her eyes but not enough that he could get away from her. “What…what made you say that?”

“Nothing _made_ me say it…I love you, it’s the truth of how I feel.” She said. “I saw Jessa today…she loved Severus so much and from all that she said of him I think he probably loved her too but he never said it. She will always wonder, always have doubts and I don’t want that for you. I want you to always know that I loved you.” 

“You talk as though you are going somewhere.” He said, running his fingertip down her tear stained cheeks. “You aren’t going anywhere that I can’t follow you.”

“You just never know. Look at what we went through this last week, we almost lost our son…”

“But we didn’t, we aren’t going to lose anyone, this family is staying together, whole and happy.” He said fiercely. “I insist upon it.”

“It doesn’t matter, I still love you.” She whispered, lifting her head to press their lips together. Her kiss was salty, flavored by her tears but it couldn’t detract from the sweetness inside when he swept his tongue into her mouth. He hardened and lengthened inside her and she whimpered, lifting her hips and sliding him deeper inside her. 

“Witch!” He hissed as he began moving inside her, thrusting slow and sure through her tight, wet heat. “You’ve undone me.” He said softly. “You’ve shattered me and pieced me back together into a man I no longer recognize. I love you.” 

“Don’t…if you don’t mean it….” She cried out sharply when he thrust hard and deep.

“I love you.” He said roughly, his thrusts coming fast and hard. “I love you…I love you….I love you…I….oh gods I LOVE YOU!” He shouted the last as he pushed so deep it bordered on uncomfortable as he spilled into her again and again until he was weak and could no longer move. “I love you.” He whispered again, softly against her ear, meaning it with all his heart for the first time in his life.


	26. A Christmas to Remember

****

**Chapter Twenty-Six: A Christmas to Remember**

_Where the Malfoys cometh...bearing gifts._

“Where are we going?” Elias asked as he wrapped his arms around his father’s neck and held on for disaparation. 

“Hogsmeade, we are meeting your mother for tea. Assuming she is finished with her shopping.” Lucius answered.

“She’s a woman, are they ever finished with their shopping?” Draco asked sarcastically as the three Malfoy men vanished from the foyer and reappeared at the end of the main street in Hogsmeade.

“Hermione isn’t like other women; she loathes shopping and rarely does it. She is only doing it now because Christmas is around the corner.” Lucius said as he sat Elias down on the snowy street and took hold of his hand. 

“I like Christmas!” Elias said excitedly, his feet slipping on the icy ground. Lucius held on to him, trying not to be pulled down with him. “Can we go to Honeydukes?”

“I don’t know we have to ask your mother.” Lucius said.

“I’ll take you to Honeydukes, Little Man.” Draco said, giving the pom pom on top of his hat a flick. “Mum can yell at me later, she probably will anyhow.” 

“Mum said you are “corrable”.” Elias said with a serious expression.

“She said he was incorrigible, Elias. And stop repeating everything you hear.” Lucius chastised. 

“Oh bloody hell.” Draco said when he saw a familiar, wrinkled face and skinny body wrapped in a tartan cloak.

“Well, my goodness, Draco and Lucius Malfoy, it’s been ages!” Minerva McGonagall said as she approached. “And look at this! Draco, I hadn’t heard that you were a father!”

“I’m not; this is my little brother, Elias.” Draco said, his lips twisted in a smirk. Elias’s family ties were about to become public knowledge in the wizarding world.

“Your little….Lucius?” He could see the cogs turning and knew that Minerva was doing the math in her head and had figured out that Elias’s conception was within close proximity to his wife’s death.

“No, not little Loo-she-us, I’m Elias Malfoy.” He stuck out his little hand covered in hand-knit mittens and Minerva took it, smiling slightly at the little boy.

“I am Professor McGonagall, I am Headmistress at Hogwarts.” She said. “You look like your father and your brother.” 

“Everyone says that but I have curly hair like my mum.” Elias said. His eyes drifted to a point behind her and his face lit up. “Hello, Mummy!” He shouted, waving wildly before he took off running. Minerva turned just in time to see him leaping into the arms of Hermione Granger.

“Mum?” Minerva turned once more to Lucius only she was glaring. “YOU fathered Hermione’s child? I thought he was Ron Weasley’s!” She whispered harshly. “She was but a child!”

“I’ll thank you to keep your nose out of my affairs, Minerva.” Lucius said low. “You know nothing of my life with Hermione.”

“Your life with….” Her confusion was palpable as Hermione came up to him, a smile on her face as she wrapped her free arm around his waist and lifted her lips for his kiss.

“Hello, My Darling, how was your shopping?” He asked. She held up a handful of shopping bags, her smile bright and loving. “Hello, Professor.” She said, turning towards McGonagall.

“Ms. Granger, it is such a surprise to see you here…with your family.” Minerva said, her brow arching on the word family. Hermione could see that she was shocked and more than likely disappointed but she would not apologize or be made to feel ashamed.

“We have tended to keep to ourselves since Lucius came home; we are only now venturing out in public.” The lie rolled off of her tongue with an ease that impressed Lucius and Draco both.

“Well, it is very good to see you. I would imagine that young Mr. Malfoy will be attending Hogwarts in a few years time?” She inquired politely, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Hermione Granger was involved with a death eater.

“If that is his choice. I confess I would prefer it but should he wish to attend another school I will not prevent him.” She said. 

“I’m hungry, Daddy said we were going to eat and then Draco was taking me to Honeydukes. He said you can yell at him later.” Elias said, insinuating himself in the center of the adults. 

“Well, I suppose we should get going. It was lovely to see you, Professor.” Hermione said as she took Elias’s hand in hers. 

“Enjoy your day out, Ms. Granger, Misters Malfoy.” McGonagall gave them all one last look and with her chin up she strode away.

“You are amazing.” Lucius whispered against her ear, laughing softly as he hugged her to him.

“I didn’t think you had it in you to be a bitch to a teacher.” Draco laughed.

“Language, Draco, your brother repeats everything.” Lucius scolded as he turned and led his family to lunch, completely uncaring of the curious faces watching them. 

****

**~@~**

“Elias Malfoy, get away from that tree!” Hermione shouted from the kitchen. Elias sat back on his heels staring at the brightly wrapped presents longingly. 

“But I want to open them!” He whined.

“And I told you not until your father and brother get here.” She said carrying a tray of cinnamon buns and coffee into the lounge and placing it on the coffee table.

“Daddy _was_ here, I don’t know why he left.” Elias pouted.

“What makes you think your father was here?” She asked, putting a pastry on a napkin and passing it to him. They were still in their pajamas, as was their tradition. Elias wearing red and white striped long underwear and she in her red pajamas with cream colored snowflakes. They always ate cinnamon buns and opened presents in their pajamas before going to the Weasley’s for their annual holiday celebration. This year Lucius and Draco would be joining them and Hermione was certain that it would not be dull.

“I know when Daddy sleeps over because I can hear you wrestling.” Elias said around a mouthful of cinnamon bun. Hermione looked up over the edge of her coffee cup, her face flaming. She was going to have to put a silencing ward around her room.

“Happy Christmas!” Lucius called as he stepped through her fireplace with his arms laden with gifts. Draco was right behind him, his arms also filled with presents.

“Oh boy!” Elias’s eyes widened with excitement when he saw all the gifts his father and brother were carrying.

“Lucius, you are spoiling him! That is way too much!” Hermione said shaking her head. Lucius’s lips went tight and he suddenly looked very guilty. It only took another moment for her to realize why as a line of house elves entered her house carrying even more packages that they placed under the tree until the bottom of the tree could no longer be seen.

“Can I use the excuse that we are making up for the previous Christmas’s we missed and promise to do better next year? Besides, they aren’t ALL for Elias…some are for you.” He offered. 

“Why did you leave? We could have opened presents a long time ago!” Elias said as he eyes the packaged with total avarice. “I heard you wrestling, why didn’t you just stay?”

Draco began laughing and Lucius simply chose to ignore it, hoping that if he didn’t acknowledge Elias’s observations he might stop making inappropriate ones. 

“Shall we open presents?” He asked, handing his stack to one of the house-elves who placed it beneath the tree before bowing and slipping back through the hearth. 

“Yes!” Elias cheered and pumped his fist into the air as he and Draco settled on the floor. 

“You look delightful in those pajamas. Are you all wrapped up for me to open?” He asked, leaning in for a kiss.

“You’ve gotten all you are going to get today….at least until later.” She said, smacking a loud kiss on his lips before reaching up to shove a Santa hat down over his head.

“What is this for?” He asked, reaching up to remove it but Hermione stayed his hand.

“As head of the family you get to play Father Christmas and pass out the gifts.” She grinned.

“Cant we just sit and let them dig in?” He asked, looking over to his sons sitting on the rug waiting impatiently.

“Nope. Come on, Lucius, it’s time to open presents.” She laughed, shoving him towards the tree.

****

**~@~**

Hermione arrived at the Weasley house with Lucius, Elias and Draco following closely behind, arms filled with gifts for the family. They were late thanks to Elias’s refusal to wear the snowman tie Hermione had gotten for him. In the end all three Malfoy men had ganged up against her, insisting that the tie was unbecoming of a wizard. The snowman tie was lying on the floor in Elias’s room, wrapped around a teddy bear while he wore his red sweater vest over his tie free white shirt and black slacks.

Elias immediately ran towards the kitchen knowing that Molly would have a treat waiting for him while Lucius and Draco bore the curious stares of the Weasley family. It took Harry stepping up to greet them both to break the ice. Hermione stuck close to them throughout dinner, worried that the older boys might make them uncomfortable, especially George who had a tendency to test his products on the unsuspecting. He would especially get a kick out of trying them out on Draco. They actually did quite well, though some of Draco’s sarcastic comments went over their heads which was probably a good thing.

Everyone gathered in the lounge to exchange gifts. As presents were passed Lucius fidgeted beside her. He seemed so nervous, tugging at his collar and wiping beads of sweat from his brow. He politely thanked Molly for the scarf, she had made it solid black which was quite touching given she didn’t care for him. Everyone was startled by their gifts from the Malfoys, dragon-hide gloves for the men and crystal perfume bottles for the women, and for Molly it was self cleaning cookware specially ordered from a magic shop in France.

“You did well.” She whispered. “Are you feeling alright?” 

“I’m fine.” He said, swallowing hard and setting his glass down on the nearest table. He stood and cleared his throat. “I actually have another gift for you.” He said rather loudly. 

“Lucius, you have already spoiled me enough.” She said, smiling . He had lavished her with gifts earlier, lingerie, perfume, the necklace around her throat.

“I could never spoil you enough.” He said softly, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a red velvet box. “But I look forward to trying.” 

“Lucius…what are you…” he went to his knee in front of her and flipped open the box. A square cut diamond ring set in silver sparkled up at her. “Oh!” She gasped, her hand coming to her lips and her eyes quickly filling with tears.

“I would be honored if you would consent to being my bride.” His voice was hoarse and his vulnerability was evident as he put himself out there to propose to her in front of everyone with the risk that she might refuse. “Hermione, will you marry me?” 

She was stunned. She never suspected that he might want to marry her, that he had changed enough to even consider marrying a muggle-born witch. Her heart swelled with her love for him, with pride in the man he had become. As her mind slowly regained focus she saw that he was staring up at her nervously, his brow and upper lip sweating as he waited for her answer. She reached out and touched his cheek, smiling softly as she nodded her head.

“Yes…yes, I will marry you.” She said through her tears. She laughed when his shoulders sagged in relief and he slid the ring onto her finger, standing at the same time that he pulled her into his arms and covered her lips with his. The laughter and applause from the others filled the air around them as they kissed. They didn’t part until they heard Elias speak.

“Draco, can I sleep with you tonight? When they kiss like that they wrestle really loud.” 

They were laughing when they pulled apart and faced the room, smiling and accepting the congratulations and well wishes. 

“To Lucius and Hermione…” Harry said, raising his glass with a smile. “May your life together never be dull.”

“I wanna do one!” Elias said excitedly, grabbing his glass of milk and climbing up onto a chair so he could see. “Draco taught me!” he said as he raised his glass. “There once was a wonderful wizard   
Who had a fierce pain in his gizzard.   
So he drank wind and snow   
At forty below   
And farted a forty mile blizzard.”

Silence met Elias’s toast and then a raucous round of laughter that had people wiping their eyes and holding their stomachs. 

“Draco, you have got to stop corrupting your brother.” Lucius said, shaking with laughter along with the rest.

“Sorry, I still claim it’s my right as the older brother.” He laughed. “Congratulations, Father. She’s a hell of a witch.” 

“Believe me, I know.” He said, staring at the witch now being embraced by the others. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve her, but I’m not letting her go.”


	27. Epilogue: An Event Like No Other

****

** Epilogue: An Event Like No Other**

_Where Hermione and Lucius say I do…_

It was a warm spring evening at the end of May and the Malfoy property was covered in lilacs and violet wisteria. Candle-lit lanterns illuminated the large back veranda where dozens of people sat in white folding chairs waiting patiently for the show to begin. 

The three Malfoy men made their way beneath an arbor dripping with fragrant wisteria wearing perfectly matched dress robes with sterling roses tucked into their lapel. Elias stood just in front and between his older brother and father, fidgeting as he stared out at the crowd of people. He sniffed his boutonniere and promptly sneezed. His brother caught his wrist just before he would have wiped his nose on his sleeve and shoved a handkerchief into his hand.

“This music sucks.” Elias whispered rather loudly.

“It’s appropriate for the occasion, Elias.” Draco said about the string quartet playing softly. “Stop fidgeting and don’t say that things suck.”

“These trousers make my butt itch.” He whined, wriggling a little more and frowning as well.

“Just be still, it won’t be long now, here comes Jessa.” Draco said, pointing to the end of the aisle where Jessa was walking towards them clutching a bouquet of flowers and wearing a floor length slip of lavender satin.

“She forgot her dress…she’s wearing her slit.” Elias said.

“Slip…and that **is** her dress. She looks beautiful.” Draco said, smirking.

“She doesn’t like you very much, I saw her spanking you.” Elias said, looking up at Draco. Draco at least had the grace to blush when Lucius looked over at him in disbelief. 

“What did I tell you about your behavior when Elias was in the house?” Lucius’s teeth were clenched tight and his words held a bite. 

“Sneaky little bugger, we weren’t _in_ the house…we were in the little flat above the carriage house. He followed me.” Draco said, frowning down at the little boy who was dancing from foot to foot in front of him.

“No I didn’t. I saw you through my testicle scope.”

“Telescope.” Lucius and Draco said at the same time.

“That’s what I said.” Elias chirped. “Hi Jessa!” He said loudly, causing the audience to chuckle. Jessa patted his head and winked at Draco who blushed further and cleared his throat when his father glared at him.

The music changed and the large double doors at the back of the house opened. Hermione stepped out of the shadows and into the candlelight and Lucius gasped. She looked so beautiful that it brought tears to his eyes. Her strapless gown was simple with no embellishment, no beading, just a simple cut of white satin that flared out at the waist and brushed the floor when she walked. There was no veil covering the curls that tumbled down her back and no jewelry other than the pearl choker around her throat. It was simple, pure and just plain beautiful, like her.

“Mummy looks so pretty.” Elias said, tugging gently on his father’s robes and pointing to the end of the aisle where Harry Potter escorted Hermione towards them. Lucius squatted beside him with his arms around his waist and watched as the most important woman in both their lives glided towards them.

“She does, doesn’t she? She’s the prettiest thing I have seen in a very long time.” He said hoarsely. Elias turned to see his father’s eyes watering and reached into Lucius’s robes for his handkerchief. As the crowd watched Elias wiped Lucius’s eyes and kissed his cheek, the sweetness of the moment causing a chorus of “awws” to rise up from the crowd as Hermione and Harry came to a stop before them.

“Daddy’s crying because of the way you look.” Elias said, leaning forward a little as he brought his hand up to cup around his mouth as he whispered.

Lucius smiled as he stood, his head held high in typical Malfoy fashion but there was no haughty look in his eyes or arrogant smirk on his lips. Only love and the soft smile of a man who adored his witch graced his features. He experienced a moment of guilt as he realized how different it felt from his first marriage. There had been no butterflies in his stomach or emotional tears when he had looked down the aisle of the cathedral and seen Narcissa coming towards him. If memory served he hadn’t even been looking at her directly, he had been staring at the stained glass window above the doors with a fake smile plastered on his face. 

This time he felt as though his heart were right there on his sleeve, bared for all to see as his insides shook with emotion. The woman who had brought him forgiveness, kindness and love had agreed to be his for all time. It was almost too much for one man to bear. 

“You look beautiful.” Lucius managed hoarsely as he held out his hand. Harry kissed her cheek and gently placed her hand in his. Lucius pulled her close, closer than they had rehearsed and instead of holding her hands in his he had his hands on her waist, looking down into her eyes.

“So…you’ve decided to change the ceremony?” She teased, smiling up at him.

“I need to have you closer than just holding your hands…I don’t know why, I just have to hold you through this.” He said, his voice trembling. She handed her bouquet to Jessa and laid her hands on the center of his chest, her smile never faltering as she looked up at him.

“Alright, Lucius.” She said softly. The officiate cleared his throat and began the ceremony, going through the traditional script of the marriage ceremony. When Lucius recited his vows his voice barely rose above a whisper leaving the audience straining to hear him, but Hermione could hear him clearly and ultimately that was all that mattered. She however came through loud and clear, making sure that everyone present could hear her as she committed herself to the man she loved, so that there would be no doubts about her willingness. 

“You may show your commitment one to the other with the exchange of rings.” The officiate said. They turned to look at Elias who was fumbling with his robes.

“Elias…the rings, Little Man.” Draco whispered.

“They’re stuck.” He grunted, pulling on his robes even harder.

“What do you mean they’re stuck?” Draco demanded, kneeling down in front of him. 

“You said being the ring bearer was a big job and if I lost them that acrumantulas will eat me so I put them on a string and tied them to my robes. Now they’re stuck!” He said, tugging hard on the front of his clothes. Sure enough, Elias had tied the rings to a piece of black string that he threaded through his buttonhole and knotted securely. It was actually rather clever but highly inconvenient. Draco had to resort to using his teeth to chew through the string and release the rings, handing them up to his father so that the ceremony could resume.

The smile on Hermione’s face when she slid the ring on his finger was unlike anything Draco had ever seen. Pure happiness was defined by that smile. And his father…he had never known his father was capable of the kind of emotion he had seen in him over the last several months. The look on his face when he pushed that silver band onto her finger was something he would always remember. A look of love, complete adoration and gratitude that was punctuated when he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her wedding rings, sealing his commitment. 

As the official closed the ceremony Lucius pulled her closer. He was kissing her before the official directed it, causing the old wizard to laugh and the congregation to join him as the newly married couple became lost in each other.

“Oh nooooo...” Elias whined as he turned his face up to Draco. “They’ll do that forever and Daddy promised me cake!” 

The kiss was broken by their smiles as they reached for their son and hugged him between them before turning to face their guests. The faces of friends and family showed true happiness for the couple who had overcome all odds to find their happy ever after.

The reception flew by, a blur of champagne, cake and music by moonlight. As the night ended Lucius and Hermione were standing at the base of the manor’s front steps, rice embedded in their hair and Hermione’s cleavage. They were squat in front of Elias, trying to ease his upset before they left for their honeymoon.

“We will be back in a week, you are going to stay with Draco and Nonie, they will take good care of you while we are away.” Hermione said, holding his chin in her palm.

“I wanna go to Itly too.” He pouted.

“Italy, Elias.” Lucius said, patting his son’s shoulder. “We’ll all go on a family vacation this summer, alright? You’ll have fun with your brother, he promised to take you on the Hogwarts Express, you’ll enjoy that!”

“Okay…” He said sadly, his little head tucked down.

“We’ll bring you back a present, okay?” Hermione said trying to hide her own upset at the thought of leaving him for a week.

“I know what I want already!” He said excitedly, his sad eyes suddenly bright.

“A train?” Lucius asked, smiling.

“No, better than a train….I want a baby sister!” He announced.

“Me too!” Draco chuckled, kneeling beside his brother and casting a puppy dog expression towards the couple. 

“Well…um…Elias, you can’t just bring back a baby sister…” Hermione’s cheeks were rosy and hot as she searched for an explanation.

“Why not? I really want one and so does Draco! Daddy sleeps in your bed all the time but you’re not fat…maybe in Itly you will get fat and I will get a baby sister!”

“Yeah, _Daddy_, why isn’t she fat yet?” Draco smirked from beside his brother. Lucius glared at him but his son had no fear of him, either of his sons. They both knew that this Lucius Malfoy was softened by the love of a good witch.

“I don’t think we will be bringing you home a baby sister, Elias.” Hermione said softly. “Maybe a new train and some taffy?”

“But…Daddy?” Elias turned his big blue eyes on his father.

“Your mother and I will discuss the ‘baby sister’ issue while we are away.” Lucius said, running his hand over Elias’s curls.

“We will?” Hermione’s eyes were wide with shock.

“We will, but Elias, babies take time to make and be born, so you will have to be patient.” Lucius said.

“I can do that.” Elias said solemnly. 

“He can? We can….what?” Hermione felt a bit dizzy and confused.

“Don’t fret, my darling.” Lucius said softly, reaching for her arm to steady her. “It’s just a conversation.”

“A conversation?” She croaked.

“To begin with.” He winked at her and turned back to their sons. “Draco, watch your brother carefully, Nonie will make sure he is dressed, bathed and fed properly but I am trusting you to keep him out of trouble. I don’t want to be called home from my honeymoon because the two of you have gotten into trouble or someone has gotten hurt.”

“We’ll be good, Daddy! George gave us a box of fireworks and we’re gonna go hunting for peasants!” Elias said happily.

“Pheasant…Draco, I don’t want Elias handling a firearm, I would rather you not take him hunting.” Lucius frowned.

“We aren’t using firearms, for once he didn’t mess up, he was right, we are going peasant hunting….with paint-ball spells at a new recreational center where you can rent rooms of requirement. It’s all very safe and no one will be harmed, I promise.” Draco said.

“But you said…mmmmppppphhhhhhhhh” Draco clapped his hand over his little brother’s mouth and smiled. 

“GO! Elias and I will be fine, go to Italy, drink some wine, eat some spaghetti and wrestle your brains out; we’ve got everything here covered.” He said.

“Alright…you know how to reach us?” Lucius asked, as he ushered Hermione into the carriage waiting to fly them to Italy.

“Yes, Father, go, enjoy your honeymoon.” Lucius’s brow furrowed for a moment as though he were second guessing the decision to leave Elias with Draco. Finally he looked down at the cherubic face of his youngest son, his second chance at life, and smiled.

“Be good for your brother, Elias.” He said. 

“I will, Daddy.” Elias lunged for him and wrapped his arms around his waist. “I’ll miss you.” Lucius swallowed hard and laid his hand on the back of his little head.

“I’ll miss you too.” He meant it too. There was a part of him that wanted to take the child with them, but it was only a week and he longed to have her to himself for an extended period of time without interruption and without the chaos. But he would miss Elias, he would miss his unique manner of speaking and miss his little smile and inappropriate behavior, would miss the child that taught him how to be a father, a Daddy. 

As he climbed into the car beside his wife he was fighting the emotion that threatened to strangle him. As they drove away, cloaking the Rolls just before it lifted into the air he looked in the rearview mirror and saw Elias on Draco’s shoulders, both of his sons waving goodbye. He felt a small, warm hand cover his and he turned to see her smiling at him.

“Are you alright?” She asked softly.

“I’ll be fine.” He said, turning his hand to clasp hers and bring it to his lips. “It’s only a week.”

“That’s right, Lucius, it’s only a week and we can call home every evening before bed so you can read to him, I packed the books in your luggage.” She said, her heart so full that it felt like it may burst.

“Very good….it’s a long ride to Italy, even by magic.” Lucius said. “A perfect time for a conversation about that baby sister for Elias.” He saw the sparkle in her eyes and the secretive smile tugging her lips as she squeezed his fingers.

“Yeah….about that….”

**~@~_The End~@~_**


End file.
